Ibrahima Konate and his Liverpool team-mates have been hot and cold this season, but the French centre-back still managed to have fun with his colleagues.
Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has joked about teammate Hugo Ekitike being working harder after being warned by a defender about his place in the France national team. Konate and Ekitike are both included in Les Bleus’ squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Ukraine, but competition for spots is fierce.
Ekitike was uncapped when he joined Liverpool from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer, but has been named in all three of Didier Deschamps’ squad since joining the Premier League. He made his first start for the first team in October, setting up Kylian Mbappé’s opening goal in a 3-0 win against Azerbaijan, and also made three substitute appearances.
Konate has established himself as a member of the French national team, having been included in the squad for the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024. In an interview with Canal Plus, he spoke about his early interactions with Ekitike at club level.
“Once, I gave him a little bit of a nod, and it was funny,” Konate said. “We were supposed to go to the gym after training and he was tired because we put a lot of intensity into the session. It’s really difficult.”
“I went to see him to tell him to come to the gym and he said, ‘But I’m devastated.’ You don’t have to go to the gym, but you should. So I looked at him and said, ‘Do you want to be called up to the French national team or what do you want to do?'” Then I leave. A minute later he’s in the gym. ”
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France still has work to do to ensure they qualify for next summer’s World Cup. Deschamps’ side have 10 points from four qualifying games, but a home loss to Ukraine on Thursday would mean their rivals would be level on points.
Coach Deschamps has recalled Al Ittihad midfielder N’Golo Kante to the squad for the next match. “Judging by the games I’ve seen him play, he’s back to his best. He has the status and the experience. I’m calling him because he’s going to play an important role,” the coach said.
Tottenham striker Randal Kolo Muani was also called up for the November international match, but was absent due to injury. He has been replaced by Lens’ Florian Thauvin, but Ekitike hopes to start against Ukraine in the absence of Kolo Muani and Inter star Marcus Thuram.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele will also be unavailable for the upcoming games, but France still have other attacking options such as Kylian Mbappé and Jean-Philippe Mateta. “I’m especially sad about Ousmane. He helped last season, but now he’s been injured. It’s not good that he’s not in the team,” Deschamps said.
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