Paul Pogba has compared France star Antoine Griezmann to N’Golo Kante following his reinvention as a ball-winning midfielder at the World Cup.
Griezmann has been exceptional for Les Bleus in Qatar, playing a different role to what most fans are used to. The 31-year-old is a stalwart for France under Didier Deschamps’ management, but has generally featured in attack, albeit in a fluid role behind the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud.
But the Atletico Madrid star has stunned pundits and supporters alike by putting in magnificent performances from a more withdrawn role, which has seen him pop up all over the pitch. The defensive side to his game has perhaps gone under the radar – until now.
Griezmann was superb in France’s 2-0 win over Morocco on Wednesday night, helping his side book their place in the Sunday's final against Argentina. The goals came from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani, but it was Griezmann who earned an observation from Pogba.
The Juventus midfielder, who is missing the tournament through injury, posted on Instagram to share his thoughts. “Griezmannkante,” he wrote alongside a thinking face emoji and a picture of himself pondering the comparison.
Like Pogba, Kante was a key part of France’s 2018 World Cup win. The duo played alongside each other in the 4-2 win against Croatia in the final, but are both missing from Deschamps’ current squad.
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France were also without Adrien Rabiot for the Morocco clash, but the Juventus man’s absence wasn’t costly – partly because of Griezmann’s duel ability as he made two tackles and four key passes. Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was taken aback by what he saw, but made the same comparison as Pogba.
“He’s been really the main man of this team, the maestro of this team, defending everywhere,” he said on the BBC. “It is very surprising, but he has the intelligence and the quality to do it. He looks more like Kante than Griezmann.”
Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand was quick to praise Deschamps for the Griezmann transformation. “He was the water carrier himself. He will tell you that himself,” he said.
“He was a player who has done the dirty work, sacrificed himself for his team, and they’re doing exactly that [with] Griezmann. What a phenomenal manager he’s getting the best out of these players.”
Griezmann picked up the player of the match award for his performance, which also had Alan Shearer purring. “He was man of the match for me. You've got to give credit to the way Didier Deschamps has used him,” the ex-England striker said.
“He's a super talent, a really clever player who reads the game really well. When you think of the players they've got missing… him and Aurelien Tchouameni were fantastic on the defensive work.”
