French midfielder Paul Pogba feels his French teammate N’Golo Kante deserves the Ballon d’Or, following an outstanding performance in the 2020/21 season.
Kante was awarded man of the match in both legs of the semi-final against Real Madrid. He then went on to make it three in a row by bagging the award in the final against Manchester City.
Kante’s meteoric rise reached a new feat when he added the Champions League medal to his already gigantic collection of trophies, which includes FIFA World Cup, UEFA Europa League and Premier League.
His impeccable consistency, alongside the Champions League victory, has made him one of the favourites to win the 2021 edition of Ballon d’Or. Kante’s French teammate Pogba has come out in his support and has stated that it will be ‘deserved’ if he wins the award.
“I said a long time ago that it would be appropriate, if Chelsea won, for him (Kante) to win the Ballon d’Or. It would be deserved too.
He has always performed well. I am not surprised (by) what he is doing, but surprised that he is doing it consistently. He has always played matches like that,”
said Pobga, while speaking to Eurosport.
Highlighting Kante’s modesty, the Manchester United midfielder further added:
“What I would like to say to the whole world is that the ‘NG’ (Kante) we have seen in recent months has always been the same.”
Pogba wants France to remain humble ahead of Euro
While both Kante and Pogba have won a plethora of major honours, they would both want to add another feather to their cap by winning the UEFA European Championship 2020.
Given their incredible squad strength and recent performances, many have touted Didier Deschamp’s side to win it, but Pogba has warned his teammates not to get complacent and keep their feet on the ground.
“Being world champions and having a team like that, we will be expected to do even more. We must remain humble. I want to give this message – It is not a foregone conclusion. We hear a lot of talk but we keep our feet on the ground. We have a PlayStation team but it will remain a PlayStation team if we don’t win a trophy,”
the 28-year-old stated.
While his French teammates would want to take Pogba’s advice seriously, it has to be admitted that the hype about Les Bleus is justified, given their excellent performances in the last few years.
France came agonizingly close to winning the competition in the last edition in 2016, but lost to Portugal in the final. Many of their current team members were a part of that squad, including both Pogba and Kante.
They would know well the agony of faltering at the last step – something that they would dearly want to avoid this time. Les Blues will start their campaign on June 15 with a match against Germany, which will be held at Germany’s den at the Allianz Arena.
Their next two matches will be against Hungary (June 19) and Portugal (June 23). Both games will be held at the Puskas Arena in Hungary. Before going into the tournament, Pogba & Co. will play their final friendly game against Bulgaria on Tuesday at Stade de France.
