“A Great Man is Always Willing to be Little!!”
It is said that hard-work, humbleness and respecting others are the keys to success. It is difficult to find all of these qualities in one man. But in the football world, there is a man with all of these qualities. His work-rate in the field, his humbleness and sweet smile turns even a stone-hearted person into his fan. Yes, we are talking about Mr Ngolo Kante.
The Chelsea midfielder was born to Malian parents in the colony on the outskirts of Paris. With the burden of poverty on his shoulders, Kante had to help his father in his job of collecting rubbish in the morning and practice football in his local club, JS Suresnes, a club in the 9th division. His capacity of working hard developed from his childhood as he used to walk the whole eastern coast of the city. His selfless nature and short stature were creating obstacles in his football career as he could not catch the eyes of big clubs. But as they say that God always helps the people who work on their dreams.
With the help of JS Suresnes’ President, Kante was picked up by Ligue 2 side, Boulogne in 2011. In his early season, Kante trained with the first team but played for the reserves. Kante was so nice that he didn’t protest against this and continued his hard work. He played his first match on the last day of the Ligue 2 with Boulogne had already been relegated. He became a regular player for Boulogne in the 3rd tier next season missing only one game. His excellent performances caught the attention of many big clubs in France and Belgium. However, Kante, on the advice of his childhood coaches Tomasz Bzymek and Peter Wojtyna opted to play for Ligue 2 side, SM Caen in 2013. Kante played a vital role at Caen helping his team gain promotion to Ligue 1, the top division of French football. He continued his excellent performances in the next season helping Caen to survive in Ligue 1.
His rate of recovering ball was the highest in the league in 2014-15. Finally, all of his hard-works bore fruit as Kante was picked up by Leicester City, who were promoted to the English Premier League in 2015. In a league full of rough and tough physical players, short-statured Kante started showing his true form as he, alongside teammate Danny Drinkwater formed an impenetrable shield in front of Leicester defence.
Kante earned the praise of every football pundits and fans of all English clubs for his incessant running and ball recovering skills. Kante-Drinkwater duo proved to be a super-hit as Leicester went on to win the English Premier League in 2015-16. Everyone was puzzled. How can a man of such little size bully big strikers like Harry Kane, Diego Costa, Sergio Aguero?
Kante was soon picked up by Chelsea football Club. He continued his wonderful performances at his new club. He was the backbone of Italian coach Antonio Conte’s revolutionary 3-4-3 formation. His eyegasmic performances helped Chelsea to win the English Premier League in 2016-17 with 93 points.
Kante’s magic continued in the international stage also. He along with Paul Pogba bossed the midfield in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He played a pivotal role in helping France to win the World Cup after 20 long years.
Kante was so humble and shy that he could not ask his teammates to let him touch the World Cup. His fellow team-mates, Steven Nzonzi and Olivier Giroud handed him the precious World Cup. The picture of Kante smiling with the World Cup is a pure gem.
After getting such enormous success every person would have become arrogant but Ngolo Kante was made of humbleness, fairness and sweetness. He refused Chelsea’s offer to be paid through an offshore company to avoid tax while renewing his contract until 2023. In 2018, after missing the train to return to Chelsea for pre-season, Kante went to a mosque where he was invited by an Arsenal fan. Kante went to his house and spent two hours with him. Kante is the man whom nobody can hate. He has the sweetness even to tell an Arsenal fan ‘sorry’ after playing a major role in defeating Arsenal in the first leg of 2018-19.
Presenting you with Ngolo Kante, the symbol of humbleness and hard work!
