France is planning a new plan to stop Lionel Messi after the 2018 Kanté Professional Championship | World Cup 2022

[ad_1]

It was a work so comprehensive, so meticulously performed, that the players of France turned it into a song. “N’Golo Kanté, he’s short, he’s nice, he shuts down Leo Messi but we all know he’s a cheat,” were the words of the midfielder, detailed for putting down Argentina’s No. 10 in Kazan four years ago, barely allowed to sniff. .

Messi received more than just an assist in Sergio Aguero’s late consolation. He would end the afternoon staring down at his feet and doubting the dream had faded, as France made it through to the quarter-finals and beyond.

Refer to deception? Kante’s teammates had a gag, not based entirely on fantasy as he later admitted, that he had cheated at the cards. But they’ll need their own joker for the World Cup final, because their tried and tested recipe for success is lacking. This time, France went all the way without Kante getting hurt and it wasn’t always convincing. When Messi, whose best at this level has been comfortable, awaits in Lusail on Sunday, they must find a similarly effective solution.

Qatar Quick Guide: Beyond Football

This is a World Cup like no other. For the past 12 years, the Guardian has been reporting on the issues surrounding Qatar 2022, from corruption and human rights abuses to the treatment of migrant workers and discriminatory laws. The best of our journalism is collected on the Qatar: Beyond Football homepage for those who want to dig deeper into issues beyond the pitch.

Guardian reporting goes beyond what happens on the pitch. Support our investigative journalism today.

Photography: Caspar Benson

Thank you for your feedback.

This was not lost on France’s players, especially those like Olivier Giroud, who saw everything up close in that last meeting. Their celebrations of moving against Morocco on Wednesday were, publicly at least, low-key because they knew what lay ahead. Like Argentina, they are a team of moments rather than long periods of cohesion and control. Anyone other than Kante needs to make sure Messi is denied the space to bring his team to life.

“I remember in 2018, N’Golo was on his back, behind him the whole game,” said Giroud, showing unprecedented recalls when the subject came his way. But this time I don’t know what the plan is. We’ll see with the manager.”

Didier Deschamps has three days to find one. “He had a very specific role,” the manager said of Kanté after the dissolute job in Tatarstan. “It’s true that we didn’t see much of Lionel Messi when he played against us.”

Messi drifts more freely, and more lightly, around the pitch these days. He has a habit of standing in a seemingly dead space before pulling off the play. The ball will find him, that’s for sure. The key is limiting those moments and depriving him of oxygen when he gets in his way. If it were so easy, everyone would do it.

Sometimes you can put your best, maybe even your best defender, in his path and still get him dismantled. Croatia and Josko Gvardiol found out on Tuesday. An efficient midfield would give France their best hopes, though, with Aurelien Choamene filling in Kante Paul Pogba’s gap admirably over the past month. The first half exploded through Morocco’s lines, almost resulting in a goal for Giroud or Kylian Mbappe, and was among the most exciting moments but life wasn’t always easy against nimble and mobile opponents.

Aurélien Tchouaméni beats Sofiane Amrabat as France beat Morocco to book their place in the World Cup final. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

“Both of them,” Chomeney said when asked about his absentee roles. “Sometimes it’s to get some balls back and sometimes I have a chance to score a goal like the last game [against England], or today with the aid of approx. It’s a mix between those. We try to do our best to help the team in the middle of the field. I think we did a great job.”

If Adrien Rabiot is fit for the final, Tchouaméni will likely attempt more of the sorting job. Despite this, Deschamps may prefer to pass the responsibility on to Messi at this time rather than allocate one captor. It helps that Antoine Griezmann, who was number 10, is France’s man all over. At 31 years old, they have a re-formed advanced midfielder who has shown he can slip in to reinforce the duo at the back while orchestrating space up front. Messi may not be able to drop as deep as he would like to move Argentina if Griezmann is running wide.

Subscribe to Football Daily

Start your evening with The Guardian’s look at the world of football

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertisements, and content funded by third parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

“We’re not going to let him have the best night he can have,” Jirou said. “We want to win the World Cup again. We will try everything to stop it.” It will take to find out.

Giroud noted that France’s younger players, such as Tchouamini and Tchouamini’s former Monaco teammate, Youssouf Fofana, have the advantages of a thin core that knows exactly what a winning campaign requires. The older generation is setting an example from the front. During the first half against Morocco, veteran striker Giroud trailed influential midfielder Sofiane Amrabat so diligently that his opponent exclaimed, “Just stop!” In a sense, the collective effort offers the best hope of undoing Messi.

Antoine Griezmann

But sometimes, as Kante knows all too well, you can play your cheating card. The 4-3 thriller in 2018 was equally notable as a watershed moment for Mbappe, who was unplayable scoring twice and winning a penalty. It was reasonable to think that the baton of greatness had been handed to the young man. As it turns out, his PSG teammates are now more or less involved with him. For all the talk though, Messi’s best answer might be a similar offer from France’s biggest hope.

Walking at a steady pace at Al Bayt Stadium, Mbappe was asked about his thoughts on playing in another final. His terse exposition was “really excited”. France must ensure that excitement arises in his kingdom and not that myth he stands to usurp.

[ad_2]