THE LEGEND OF KING KUNTA KANTE

We are attracted by beautiful shiny things that catch the eye, and just like little kids we get excited and happy when we see a team playing attacking football. We believe that a coach that is able to score 4 goals, even if he has conceded 3, is a genius. We love an exciting talent that scores goals and create them. We like moths to a candle when we see Hazard, de Bruyne, Salah, Pogba, Ronaldo, Messi and all the amazing attack-minded players who fill our screens every midweek and weekends.

A long time ago, Italian football was the leader in world football. These were the years of players such as Paolo Maldini, Alessadro Nesta, Giancito Facchetti and Fabio Cannavaro (the last defensive player to win Ballon DÓr). These defenders ruled not only Italy, but also in Euro. Most teams wanted to have defenders like them, they were that good. During those times, defending was the way; yes this were also the years of the traditional number 9, and Italy league was blessed with great ones. The reality is that we don’t need to talk up the virtues of creating goals and scoring them, whereas defence is often less fun and less glamorous, less glorified. Defenders never get as much endorsement as the guy who scores goals.

But things do change quickly and this too had to change, these players got old and other defenders struggled to get close to where these legends, attacking football took center stage. We took no real interest on the guy who goes in, get dirty for his team and come back with the ball. We only noticed the guy who’s given the ball to score because we believe the team that can score can win matches even if they can’t defend well. Acquiring something is inherently sexier than simply maintaining it.

Well, goals win matches but defence win titles. N’Golo Kante helped a less known French team, Caen, to win promotion to League 1 and staying there. His numbers were better than any other defensive midfielder in France. Kante doesn’t shout “strong and powerful”; most big European teams were reluctant to take him in. Yes he had great numbers for a small team in the French league, but that doesn’t guarantee he will do the same in a bigger team playing in a more competitive league.

When Leicester brought him in, they had just survived being relegated and were candidates for relegation that season. Instead, Leicester— 5,000-to-1 outsiders—won the league in

2016 in the greatest upset in team sports history. That was in no small part due to the diminutive Frenchman at the base of its midfield.

“I don’t know if Kanté can win the Ballon d’Or in his life because of the characteristics of this player. He doesn’t score a lot of goals. He is a great worker. For me, as a coach, Kanté has to win, but in reality it would be very difficult. Paolo Maldini never won but he was the best defender in the world. Gianluigi Buffon never won, he was the best goalkeeper in the world for many years. But this is the story of the Ballon d’Or”. – Antonio Conte 

Soccer doesn’t have a good track record of rewarding those players that do the hard work. In the past 3 seasons, only CR7 can claim to have had a better period than N’golo Kante. Ronaldo is front page handsome; he’s a natural goalscoring winger-cum-midfield-cum-striker. N’golo Kante is the humble, shy guy who seem as if his performance is, well, what can be done by everyone, that guy who looks at others achievements and say, “You carried us through”when he’s the one who inspired other to shine because of his hard work. Fathers force their sons to watch Ronaldo, to be like him, to be confident like him because that’s how champions look like.

I a period of 3 years, Kante won EPL twice, FA cup and the World Cup gold medal. He won soccer writer’s Footballer of the year and Player’s player of the year, at the world cup in Russia; Kante came close to winning the Player of the tournament award but was later selected to be in the FIFA Xl team.

Replica shirts being bought still have those names that “shine”, we love the Mbappes, Messi, Neymar, Kane, we love them because we believe they are geniuses, we don’t follow the guys who go out to do the things that no one is willing to do, who knows that their dirty job, won’t get the headline news.

Kante is the guy who works in the shadows, who works like a slave for others to be in the limelight.

By Fani Ntele @Faniwantele