As a player, Didier Deschamps has never been a great specialist in dribbling and feinting. At 55, the Basque decided to become a coach. After the surprise return of Karim Benzema at Euro 2021, who had spent six years away from the France team, Deschamps once again defied the predictions with that, also unexpected, of N’Golo Kanté. The latter is part of the list of twenty-five players revealed by the coach, Thursday May 16 on the TF1 set, who will play the Euro in Germany, with a first match against Austria on June 17.
Before this announcement, everyone looked one way and expected to make headlines on the call-up of young Bradley Barcola (21 years old). The latter is a surprise, certainly, more important than the other return of the evening in the selection, that of Ferland Mendy. But it is much less so than that of the tireless midfielder, the great architect of the title of world champion of the French team in Russia, in 2018. This nice counterpoint, Deschamps decided ” A week ago “.
Unlike his teammates whom he will meet again – or discover for some of them – at the start of the rally in Clairefontaine, Wednesday May 29, Kanté learned of his summons before the news. And for good reason: while Deschamps was explaining the outlines of his list to Gilles Bouleau, the 33-year-old participated in the draw of his team Al-Ittihad against Khaleej, in the Saudi championship, which he joined in the summer of 2023 .
The Kanté surprise is one for two reasons. The former Chelsea player has not played for the French team for almost two years. We have to go back to June 3, 2022, during a match against Denmark, to see him wear the Blues jersey. Very often injured, he had gone through a blank season in England in 2022-2023 and quickly gave up on a potential call-up for the World Cup in Qatar. Before giving in to the call of Saudi petrodollars at the end of his contract with the Blues.
Deschamps not worried about Kanté’s level
Kanté had not yet disappeared from the French radars. “I’ve already said it and I’ll say it again: for me, N’Golo Kanté remains selectable at any time”, insisted Deschamps in September 2023. But the Bayonnais has too often insisted, during his twelve years in office, on the importance of playing regularly at a very high level to claim a call-up so that his return appears obvious. A prerequisite that the Saudi Pro League does not offer.
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