Squads worth over a billion, labelled with the roles of favourites before the European Championship began, but the performances of England and France so far have been lacklustre. They haven’t started the engines yet, actually only one is running. And constantly. The one that doesn’t shut down, and few expected him to even appear in the championship after 733 days of exile.For two years, N’Golo Kante was off the map, a hamstring injury took him out of the competition for the World Cup in Qatar, he was out of the picture for months – he contracted the corona virus a little earlier – he fell out of shape and eventually went to Saudi Arabia. It seemed that this was it, that the door to the national team was closed to him, that there was no way back, however, he managed to make everyone ponder over the saying ‘he who leaves Europe is done with ‘serious’ football’. Not that this is not the case, but in two matches for the French, he was the man who carried the torch and lit the way.To the surprise of many, he received a call from Didier Deschamps in May – he hasn’t played since 2022 and the match in the Nations League with Denmark – and to the joy of everyone in the team. Over 12,600,000 French fans tuned in on television, a record for that country for the year, to see that old Kante against Austria, see the impenetrable shield and smile from ear to ear as he accepted the MVP award.Oh, look, it’s the quality of a player that matters and not of the leagueThe most useful player of the match in the duel with Austria, the most useful also in the clash with the Netherlands. The only one at the tournament so far – true, not everyone played two matches – who picked up two individual awards. By the way, he also took the captain’s armband when Kylian Mbappe was leaving the field because his nose broke after an aerial duel with Kevin Danso. And how Deschamps knew how to reward the tireless midfielder.But also to make a joke about him.”N’Golo is still running”, the first match was largely over:”But he doesn’t just run, he carries the ball, complements the other players in the midfield. We are not predictable with him. He shone, that’s a very good thing for us”.All the same, as before…”Just run; you’re faster than a train”, Didier Deschamps admired the then-Chelsea midfielder three years ago.17 – N’Golo Kanté has made more major tournament appearances (World Cup/EUROs) without losing than any other European player, with France unbeaten in all 17 such games he’s played (W12 D5). Treasured. #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/sVD3U3O9OZ— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 22, 2024 After Austria, the players welcomed him with applause, he ended up in the arms of the coach. He was only slightly less impressive against the Dutch – after all, the whole team was – but last night it was clear that he is not worn out, that he is perhaps fresher than all his teammates, because he does not have so many games in his legs.Going to Saudi Arabia was good for Kante. He looks physically good again, he can follow the top pace and run in a full sprint, which was exactly the complaint of Didier Deschamps. There were no calls when he wasn’t in tip-top shape. He brought him back because he believes again in his athletic ability, because he is an important corrective factor and has a forward pass, which you could see against the Netherlands when he played the ball for Antoine Griezmann.The return was a hit for – everyone.”The players like to have him in their team, not to have him in front of them,” said Les Bleus coach.##NAJAVA_MECA_8173426##So, in the example of Kante, you can see that the stars who went to the Middle East and how they can deal with players from Europe, but if they take care of their bodies. Not only did it all end for him when he went to Al Ittihad, but so far this French national team is his. The midfielder, named after Ngolo Diarra, the leader of the Bambara Empire, one of the largest in West Africa in the 18th century, is the leader of Les Bleus.The French have a man with an instinct to sniff out where danger lurks, the goal is under lock and key – they conceded none, although everything could have been different had Anthony Taylor not canceled out Xavi Simons’ goal due to Denzel Dumfries’ position in the box – but the attack will have to do better for the desired result.
