Joel Matip has praised Ibrahima Konate and has backed his Liverpool team-mate to win the World Cup.
Konate starred for France in their semi-final triumph over Morocco on Wednesday and, after an illness scare, will be hoping to retain his place for this afternoon's final with France at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.
Matip and Konate, along with Joe Gomez, often compete with one another to partner Virgil van Dijk at the heart of Liverpool’s defence. But there is clearly a lot of mutual respect between the pair.
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With the prospect of Konate returning to Merseyside as a World Cup winner, Matip has hailed his team-mate and explained why it’s not a ‘hard choice’ who he and the rest of the Reds squad wants to win the trophy in Qatar.
"He's so young and [he has] so much quality already," Matip told Liverpoolfc.com . "He's showed that now again with the national team – with an amazing team. He's shown the class he's got. He's self-confident, nice, and a really kind person.
"Especially [at] this age, it's amazing what he can do. He's strong in challenges, in the air, on the ground, the pace, [he's] comfortable with the ball – it's everything you need [as a defender]."
When asked if he and the Liverpool squad are wishing Konate well ahead of the final, Matip said: "Of course, he is the only team-mate left, so there is no hard choice for us to make when he is the only one.
"I hope he comes back with a big smile – this will be a win then!"
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