Argentina, who was considered a strong favorite for the championship in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, met France in the round of 16 and was eliminated with a 3-4 defeat.
Amid a seven-goal slugfest, Lionel Messi, who was considered the best player in the World Cup, bowed his head without scoring a single goal.
France blocked Messi with one player. Midfielder N’Golo Kante, who drew attention as the world’s most active player, followed Messi throughout the game. The world’s controversies praised “Kante erased Messi”.
Olivier Giroud, who met Argentina and Messi again in the 안전놀이터 2022 Qatar World Cup final, recalled on the 16th (Korean time), “There was Kante behind Messi’s back.”
Messi currently ranks first in the World Cup scoring rankings with Kylian Mbappe with 5 goals and 3 assists, threatening France with the same skills as 4 years ago.
However, there is no Kante in this head-to-head. Kante missed the World Cup due to injury.
Giroud was cautious about having to deal with Messi without Kante, saying, “We have to see what the manager will make.”
With France in the difficult position of dealing with Messi without Kante, midfielder Paul Pogba has claimed that Kante is now in the French squad.
Pogba wrote “Grizmannkante” on his Instagram story that day.
Antoine Griezmann’s main position is as a second striker or wing forward.
However, in this competition, he transformed into a box-to-box midfielder who runs all over the field. He does not stop at leading the attack with his signature creative pass, but relentlessly aims at the opponent and takes away the right to attack. He created as many as 21 scoring opportunities in this tournament, 3 of which were connected with assists. It is like playing the role of Kante and Pogba alone, who missed the World Cup due to injury. Griezmann’s successful transformation is one of the hot topics in this World Cup. The word ‘Griezman 2.0’ also came out.
Pogba is not the only one who has compared Griezmann to Kante. Didier Drogba, a Chelsea and Côte d’Ivoire legend, praised Griezmann, saying he “looks more like Kante than Griezmann.”