Ibrahima Konate sounds warning to England before France World Cup game nobody wants
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Former Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate has warned England that he and his France teammates will be ready for the Bronze Final match in the FIFA World Cup this weekend.Ibrahima Konate has discussed France's match with England in the World Cup bronze final match(Image: (Photo by Leonardo Fernandez - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images))Ibrahima Konate has warned England players and coaching staff that France "want to win" their Bronze Final clash in the FIFA World Cup this weekend.Both the Three Lions and Les Bleus lost their respective semi-final matches in midweek, setting up a final between Spain and Argentina, as well as the third-place clash the day before.After tasting defeat in the final four, England boss Thomas Tuchel claimed that it was a game "nobody wants to play" after failing to reach the final.However, former Liverpool ace Konate has warned the ex-Chelsea, PSG, and Bayern Munich coach that he and his France teammates will be ready to give their all despite the disappointing circumstances of the game.Speaking to the press, Konate said: "I believe as French players, for this team, many players would have loved to compete and played this game. Well, it’s true that, given the aim and objective we had, we wanted to play the final.“But we are still representing France and it is the dream of many people to wear the shirt, the jersey, and sing the national anthem.“Therefore we need to respect the jersey we are wearing.
If we believe that this is a duty of ours, we will play with the best team in the same way we did at the start of this competition.Ibrahima Konate has endured a difficult World Cup with France this summer“As a player, we want to win for ourselves before wanting to win for anyone else but it is true we want to pay back the French coach. He did so much for the French team, the individual players, he picked them all, we have to be grateful for that.“The players on the pitch will want to win.
We are disappointed, we didn’t want to play this third-place playoff, but it is still England v France, there is great history. We need to do our best to get this bronze medal.”The match will mark an opportunity for Konate to earn his first start of the World Cup, after enduring a difficult campaign with France this summer.The former Liverpool man, who announced his transfer to Real Madrid mid-tournament, is yet to make a start for Les Bleus and has played just 14 minutes from the bench during the campaign.That is despite some changes in defence, with William Saliba's back injury seeing Didier Deschamps turn to Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix as his replacement, instead of Konate.With changes expected for the match on Saturday, the defender could finally be handed an opportunity in what is expected to be the France boss's final match in charge.After that, all focus will turn towards Konate's upcoming challenge with Real Madrid, and settling into life under Jose Mourinho.