Ibrahima Konate has been handed his maiden France call-up after Raphael Varane picked up yet another injury.
The Liverpool defender missed out on Didier Deschamps’ initial squad, even after an impressive second half of the season at Anfield. Like many of Jurgen Klopp’s recent signings, Konate was eased into the lineup following his £36million arrival last summer.
And while Joel Matip remained Virgil van Dijk’s more regular partner, Konate was given the nod in crunch times, including the FA Cup and Champions League finals. Despite defeat in the latter against Real Madrid, the 23-year-old vindicated Klopp’s decision with a solid showing against the likes of Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr.
“Today he was the best defender on the pitch in terms of an individual performance,” Rio Ferdinand told BT Sport. “In one-v-one situations, dominant, he was tremendous. He can take some good credit out of this game even if they lost.”
But he will now have his chance to impress on the international stage following the news of Varane’s latest injury issue. Since signing for Manchester United last summer, the former Madrid centre-back has had a host of fitness problems - missing 17 games throughout the course of the season.
And just an hour into France’s Nations League clash with Denmark, the 29-year-old limped off the field at the Stade de France with a hamstring injury. It was subsequently revealed that the United man will be out for a couple of weeks, ruling him out of the home and away fixtures vs Croatia and the clash with Austria.
Kylian Mbappe was another Les Bleus star to pick up an injury during the shock defeat to Denmark, with scrutiny being placed upon the extra workload being placed upon players at the end of a busy domestic season.
Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne has been a vocal critic of the schedule, labelling the recently established Nations League as “unimportant”.
He said: "For me, the Nations League is unimportant. We have to play those matches, but it's a kind of practice campaign. Everyone has had a very tough season. As soon as we are on the field, we do what we have to do. Then I want to win. Other than that, I don't have much to say about it.
"We have nothing to say about it. As players, we can talk about vacation or rest, but we have no say. We follow what we need to do and that's it.
“We have a little more than three weeks of vacation every 12 months. The outsiders don't understand how a player feels after a season. It doesn't have to be, in the end it won't change anyway. Nor is there any point in saying anything about it. Nothing will change anyway."
England captain Harry Kane shared those concerns, admitting that their short break hasn’t been long enough to recuperate from a busy and intense Premier League season. “It’s difficult, when you are playing at the highest level, physically and mentally it takes a lot out of the body,” he explained before the Three Lions’ clash with Hungary.
“For sure I feel like three weeks off isn’t enough time to recover mentally and physically, I guess you adapt to that but for sure I feel like there is going to be a time where players are picking up injuries because of that.
“I am someone who would love to have a few more weeks to be able to prepare the body and recover from the hard seasons we have. But it is not our decision, it comes down to the competitions and where they can fit their competitions in.”
