Who said that N’Golo Kanté was no longer up to par? Called to everyone’s surprise by Didier Deschamps to play in Euro 2024, the former Chelsea midfielder had, admittedly, displayed some limitations throughout the competition. Back in the tricolor jersey, the native of Paris had nevertheless made two new starts during the September gathering, reserved for the League of Nations. Disappointing during the slap received against Italy (1-3), the 1m68 right-hander however made up for it against Belgium, three days later, by delivering a decisive pass (2-0).
Injured and absent during the two French victories against Israel then against Belgium in mid-October, N’Golo Kanté finally quickly returned to the field. To the delight of Al-Ittihad and its coach, Laurent Blanc. Present in the former OL technician’s eleven during his team’s victory against Al-Qadsiah (3-1), the player who played for SM Caen and Leicester thus proved that he still had some the foot. Alongside Fabinho, the number 7 of the Saudi team, currently leading the championship with the defending champion Al-Hilal, continues, in fact, to shine with his volume of play and his authority in the duel.
Kanté called for the next Blues rally?
A valuable performance and once again visible, this Thursday, against Al-Riyadh (1-0). The only scorer of this meeting after an offering from Moussa Diaby, the French international (63 caps, 2 goals) above all reigned supreme in the midfield. “The Riyadh players defended well and had a few scoring opportunities. Victory is important. We must continue to build a winning mentality. We must take all matches seriously and never underestimate the opponent.assured the hero of the day in the mixed zone. During this game counting for the 8th round of the Saudi Pro League, the former Chelsea player was also the author of 105 successful passes, the best total achieved this season in the SPL. Before him, there was only one player who exceeded the threshold of 100 correct passes in a match, namely Mosaab Al-Jouair of Al-Shabab.
An anecdotal statistic for some but proving that the 2018 world champion still has an undeniable influence in this role of sentinel. With 7 matches in all competitions since the start of the season and an essential link in the team coached by Laurent Blanc, N’Golo Kanté can therefore hope to make his return to Blue in the weeks to come. As a reminder, France will challenge Israel and Italy on November 14 and 17, still within the framework of the League of Nations. It now remains to be seen whether Didier Deschamps will also be sensitive to the current performance of the person concerned. Response in the coming days…
