Among all the clamour for the Argentina win, the Messi GOAT status and the Mbappe talk, it is easy to forget that there were other French players that played and suffered after the defeat as well.
It was possibly the last World Cup for Oliver Giroud, while players like Tchouaméni and Camavinga proved that the footballing future of the nation is in secure hands.
Ibrahima Konate is another such player who is only just starting his journey in senior international football and there is much more to come from him.
The Liverpool player played around 300 minutes of football in Qatar, starting three games, coming off the bench in two, including the last game, and staying on the bench in the remaining two games of the tournament.
Coming within touching distance of the trophy but not lifting it is surely painful, especially when the trophy is as valuable as this one.
This is the second major trophy in quick succession that Konate has come close to but hasn’t been able to convert the opportunity.
While this opportunity came FOR France, the previous one came IN France.
The previous opportunity to lift a major trophy which ended badly for Konate was when he and his team Liverpool missed out on the Champions League trophy last season.
The final match of that tournament was between the English side and Spanish giants Real Madrid, with 90 minutes ending 1-0 in favour of Madrid thanks to a 59th-minute goal from Vinicius Jr.
Konate played the full match and played well, but could not stop the Spanish side from scoring, which ultimately led to the loss.
At only 23, Konate has lost in two major finals. It takes real character to bounce back from such disappointments but if the player’s Insta stories, which are not visible anymore, are to be believed, he will be doing just that.
The three-part story first featured him walking away from the world cup, the second of him and the CL trophy and the third and an anime reference to a person on the ground with the words “Al Hamdoulilah…keep working”.
The Arabic text translates to “Praise be to God”.
The anime photo is of Goku, the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama
In short, the player is saying that he will keep working hard and get back stronger than before.
The anime reference though may seem a little weird at first sight since there are better ways to show this emotion but turns out, this is not the first time Konate has used anime on social media.
In fact, he used the same mode of emotion on social media to express his delight when he scored against Manchester City in an FA Cup match last season. His goal was certainly instrumental, as the Kop won 3-2 against City.
His actual celebration on the pitch after scoring was also anime related.
Shinzo wo Sasageyo is a song by Linked Horizon for Anime show Attack on Titan, while Eren Yeager is also a character from the same show.
On Twitter, he posted a GIF from a popular show Dragon Ball Z to commemorate the goal.
His love for manga and anime is well documented and this is just another instance of him using that on social media.
Reassuring words for both Liverpool and France supporters.
