PORTO: There was a heartwarming tale three years ago about N’Golo Kante and how he went to pray at a local mosque in London and was invited back to the home of an Arsenal-supporting fellow Muslim.
Chelsea’s French World Cup-winning midfielder ended up staying for dinner, playing FIFA and watching the football program Match of the Day.
Kante is the humblest of heroes — the person, the player everyone wants in their home or on their side.
While Kai Havertz was the matchwinner in Porto as Chelsea upset Manchester City to claim the Champions League, it could not have been achieved without Kante.
Committed, courageous and world class, he drove his side forward and delivered timely, vital challenges to thwart dangerous City breaks.
The words of former Blues midfielder Joe Cole resonated with everyone as he said: “N’Golo Kante is staggering. I am shattered just watching him. I played with Claude Makelele and I thought he was the best in that position until I saw this kid. He is Makelele plus extras.”
What is also staggering is how Kante was making his senior professional debut for Boulogne in the French Second Division — then spending the next season in the third tier — when Chelsea won their first Champions League nine years ago.
His inspirational rise, which has included league and cup wins for clubs and country, has not changed the quietly spoken star.
After being named man of the match on Saturday, talk turned to the biggest personal accolade for the 30-year-old.
“Thinking of Ballon d’Or?” said Kante. “No, for the moment we are savoring the Champions League, the Euros are soon, I will join the France team and I hope to win that as well.
“It’s amazing. It’s the result of a lot of effort, after a lot of difficulties during the season,” he said. “The man of the match award is secondary. The main thing is the work of the whole group. It is pride and joy.”
Kante should be in the reckoning as the game’s best player. What he does to affect the outcome of a game, and consistently without ego, nobody else comes close to.
“He recovered 50 balls, he hurt them,” compatriot and team-mate Olivier Giroud said. “This guy is incredible, he runs everywhere, he makes the difference, he fills in gaps, he collects balls. With him we have the impression of having 12 on the pitch.”
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, who praised his side’s “brave and relentless performance,” knows Kante’s worth.
“I don’t think there is a more important player for his team in world football than N’Golo Kante,” said the German coach. “He drove this team.”
Contrast that with Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola leaving out captain Fernandinho from his starting 11 — a decision that surprised even Tuchel.
Instead he chose Raheem Sterling, who had played just eight minutes in the two-legged semifinal success against Paris Saint-Germain.
It also meant Ilkay Gundogan, the club’s top scorer this season with 17 goals, was deployed in a holding defensive role and unable to influence City further forward as he has often done this season.
For all Sterling’s qualities and threat, the Premier League champions lost their shape — and lost their way. They lacked everything that Kante gave Chelsea; energy, drive and leadership.
Again, Guardiola chose to experiment when it was unnecessary and his tactics allowed Chelsea to use midfield space where Fernandinho might have been, and take control as City’s players were uncertain and unraveled by simplicity.
It took three passes to create the 42nd-minute goal for Havertz. Keeper Edouard Mendy out to Ben Chilwell on the left, inside to Mason Mount whose inch-perfect through-ball was met by the German to round Ederson and roll into the net.
Subdued already, City’s hopes further diminished with Kevin De Bruyne being helped off the pitch in the 58th minute after being brutally blocked by Antonio Rudiger.
He was in tears. As were many others, particularly Oleks Zinchenko and Sergio Aguero, after the striker made his final appearance for City following his record-breaking heroics.
Despite two trophies and coming close to another couple this season, Guardiola will come under more scrutiny to deliver a Champions League he has not won since Barcelona triumphed 10 years ago.
Failure should not be an option for a team of this talent.
“I tried the best selection to win the game,” Guardiola said. “I decided the decision, to have quality players. Gundogan played many years in this position. To have speed, to find the small players, the quality, the brilliant players, inside, in the middle and between the lines. This was the decision.”
“I just want to congratulate the players for an exceptional season,” he said. “It was the first time we were at this stage, hopefully we will be here again in the future.”
For Chelsea it could be the start of something special at Stamford Bridge, a new era.
Tuchel, who lost the final last year with PSG, has now impressively outwitted Guardiola three times in this campaign and is set to extend the 18-month deal he signed when he arrived in January.
“Maybe I have a new contract now with that win,” he said.
“Nobody wants to rest, I don’t want to rest. I want the next title and the process of quality and consistency. I demand to be a part of it,” said Tuchel. “We have a lot of young players and now we have the big, big challenge of staying hungry. It’s all about the next one.”
