FIFA 21: VOLTA’s Groundbreakers open up on failure and performing at the elite level


Who wins in a race between FIFA 21 Groundreakers Kylian Mbappe and Thierry Henry?

Keep reading for more from the VOLTA stars.

VOLTA Groundbreakers

There is a stellar line up on VOLTA this year, with the likes of Thierry Henry and boxing star Anthony Joshua joining Kylian Mbappe on FIFA 21.

There are loads more stars joining them, but the three sporting icons caught up thanks to EA to talk all things sport.

1v1 Finishing

The art of finishing is crucial in both football and boxing, with these three some of the best around.

Surprisingly, Henry shares he wasn’t always the goal machine we all know. “When I was younger I needed five or six chances to score one goal, I wasn’t a natural born scorer. The more time you have, the more difficult it is to score.”

Mbappe also shares that sentiment that one v one situations are more difficult than you think.

“Sometimes I come to a one on one and I approach it too easy, too sure of myself, too much confidence. I’m not focused on what I want to do, I’m too confident as I’m thinking “I can score easily”, but that’s not the good way.

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BLINDING LIGHTS! We can't wait to use Mbappe on the Next Gen consoles

I know what I have to do, today I see the best players in the world like Messi and Ronaldo and I’m really happy with the start of my career but I have more steps to reach their level and I know what I have to do to be there, I have to improve every day.”

Mbappe has well over 100 career goals already and looks the most likely to reach the levels of the two greats he mentioned.

Boxing also has its finishing, although not quite in the same way as football.

AJ gleams with joy as he shares his favourite finish. “The uppercut is my go-to finish. I love it so much, it’s so dangerous. It’s beautiful but it’s very violent as well. I really enjoy landing that shot”

Failure

All athletes will experience failure at some point in their career, but it can be tough to talk about it as Henry alludes to.

“My career is over so I can talk now, I can open up about failure. Sometimes when you are still in the game it’s difficult to open your heart up because you are supposed to be a lion.”

Having lost the Champions League final this year, Mbappe’s wounds are still fresh.

“We lost the Champions League Final and people have to understand this; we train all year to be ready for this moment and when you lose, you can’t be happy. You can’t be happy because you remember all the sacrifices that you made to arrive there.”

Heavyweight boxing champion Joshua also suffered a high-profile failure at the hands of unfancied Andy Ruiz Jr.

“One guy said something where I wanted to punch his head, he said ‘Hey man, don’t let that fat boy beat you again homie’. But I realised this is part of my grounding, so let me take it, let me understand it and let me embrace it, then I go again.”

All three stars have been gracious in defeat, but all of them show a desire to hit back sooner rather than later.

Who is faster?

Current French striker Mbappe wasted no time in jumping in with this one, claiming “I would have won against Thierry (in a race)”.

Henry did not look best pleased with this, although did say that speed with the ball is more important.

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SLOW POKE! Henry's 98 Pace back in FIFA 2005 just edges out Mbappe

“What?! No, no you know what? Listen, we can never know. You need to understand something; it’s not about speed, it’s about how fast you can be with the ball” began Henry.

“This is something that people do not understand.” Unfortunately, we will never know the answer, although FIFA stats suggest 2004/05 Henry would have pipped Mbappe.

Boxing Champions to FIFA Star

Joshua is clearly thrilled at the opportunity to be on FIFA, stating “Even though I love football and it was my first passion, never in my life did I imagine I could be in EA SPORTS FIFA.”

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HEAVYWEIGHT! AJ's Featured Squad is available to challenge now on FUT 21

The English heavyweight went on to lay down some fighting talk, claiming “If I was a player, I would have been a defender though. For sure, I would have caused you both big problems if I was a Premier League footballer.”

We aren’t sure if you’d have caught either of them AJ!

Cover Star

PSG forward Mbappe has graced the FIFA cover for the first time this season and is clearly delighted at the honour.

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STAR OF THE SHOW! Mbappe features on all three FIFA 21 covers

“The first thing, I was thinking like a child again you know? I was proud, it was a dream. I was thinking of the superstars and legends that were on past covers and it’s amazing to be part of this club so I’m really proud”.

With so many great players featured on the front cover, including Henry, will Mbappe reach the same levels?

Kylian Mbappé, Anthony Joshua and Thierry Henry were in conversation as Groundbreakers in EA SPORTS FIFA 21. They are just a few of the huge names from the worlds of football, music, fashion and beyond that are available to add to your VOLTA FOOTBALL squad each week through VOLTA FEATURED BATTLES. Anthony Joshua’s VOLTA FEATURED BATTLE is available in FIFA 21 from 6pm Friday 23rd October, so to pick-up your copy of the game and add him to your squad, head to https://www.ea.com/games/fifa/fifa-21/buy

READ MORE: FIFA 21 TOTW 5 Predictions

For more articles like this, take a look at our FIFA 21 page.