Paul Pogba has caught Kanté fever.
Chelsea’s midfield dynamo had his second successive outstanding World Cup outing, against Peru on Thursday, as France secured place in the knockout rounds with a second successive one-goal victory.
As usual, he was everywhere.
As usual, he piled up a mountain of stats.
France tidy Peru 1 - 0. Na Giroud hit shot wey hit goalie come go up b4 Mbappe tap am in. Apart 4rm dat one, Kante jus dey evriwhere for the match. See him stats:
— Chelsea In Pidgin (@Chelsea4Pidgin) June 21, 2018
44 accurate passes (88%)
7 duels won
4 tackles
4 interceptions
3 clearances
3 long passes completed
1 key pass pic.twitter.com/IDTPPFCZ1w
And as usual, he rescued his teammates time and time again.
It’s no wonder they all love him.
This time it’s Paul Pogba who is fully appreciating what Chelsea realized two years ago, that playing with N’Golo Kante is a joy and that his ability to run all day is, well, inhuman.
“A player like N’Golo facilitates you the game. In fact, he is everywhere. Sometimes, I’m not going back in defense and I know he is here. He has 15 lungs, he helps the team so much.”
Of course, reducing Kanté to just his running ability and his stamina is a bit simplistic. He’s worked hard to improve the on-the-ball aspects of his game under Conte. We don’t have to look much further than France’s best move of last night’s game — seen at the 1:24 mark of the highlights video below, where he turns into a no.10 — to realize that Chelsea’s Player of the Year has all that and more in his locker.
Recently linked with PSG, a rumor that he’s denied repeatedly, Kanté is just as important to France’s World Cup hopes this summer as he is to Chelsea’s hopes of returning to the top four and challenging for more trophies next season. Just don’t get hurt!