France began their Euro 2024 tournament with a 1-0 victory over Austria on Monday night with former Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante named man of the match.
Kante was at his usual best against Austria, covering more grounds and providing support to the back line. His impressive display has now got fans talking.
Speaking after the match, football pundit Gary Neville admitted that he felt that Kante was ‘finished’ after leaving Chelsea.
However , he agreed with Keane who thinks the midfielder was ‘absolutely outstanding’.
Keane tols ITV Sport;
“He was brilliant.” “He has got that vast experience. I think what he is really good at, we talk about breaking the play up, but it’s when he does the other bits as well.
“He’s sharp with his passing. He covers the ground, we know that. His decision-making is excellent. But he is neat and tidy with his passing. He loves a little one-two. He can pass it forward. He makes runs forward. He looked like a younger version of himself. He was excellent – that role is about football intelligence and he has it in abundance.”
N’Golo Kante poses for a photo with the Vivo Player of the Match award after the UEFA EURO 2024 group stage match between Austria and France (Photo by Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Neville responded: “You just said it, Roy. He’s not just a holding midfield player. He is everywhere on the pitch. He runs forward and Rabiot just sits back from him and balances it off. I thought he was absolutely outstanding tonight. The best player on the pitch – A few years ago, he looked like he was finished. Sometimes, a second lease of life, obviously, he is playing in a great team and brought back. Sometimes, when you get to that age of 30 or 31, you are near the end of your career and you get stale, then you start to enjoy your career a bit more.”
Kante left Stamford Bridge last summer and moved to the Saudi Pro League to join Al-Ittihad.
The 33-year-old has done it all at club level, including winning the 2018 World Cup with France, and he will be eager to add the ongoing Euros tournament to his trophy collection.
