Randal Kolo-Muani repays the faith of Didier Deschamps with impressive Chile display | OneFootball

Randal Kolo-Muani (25) has come under some scrutiny at times this season. Following his dramatic big-money deadline-day move to PSG from Eintracht Frankfurt, high expectations were placed on the 25-year-old to lead this new era for Les Parisiens. However, despite the scrutiny, one devout supporter of the PSG attacker has been his international boss Didier Deschamps.

Deschamps’ support dates back even before the former Frankfurt forward’s €90m move to Paris Saint-Germain. One moment that has marred Kolo-Muani’s time in a Les Bleus shirt is the glorious opportunity which was afforded to him late in the 2022 World Cup final against Argentina to win the match, only to be denied by Emiliano Martinez.

Following that big chance which saw the former Nantes forward receive heavy criticism and left people questioning his place in the Les Bleus squad, Didier Deschamps was still resolute in his defence of Kolo-Muani.

Deschamps has continued to be defiant in his support of Kolo-Muani – continually selecting him in his France squads. This is despite a difficult start to life in the French capital with his status as a starter far from guaranteed, given the plethora of attacking options available to Luis Enrique. Kolo-Muani’s season has seen people question his position within the France squad further especially the competition within the Les Bleus ranks.

“You don’t love him enough”

In his press conference before France’s match against Chile, the Les Bleus manager continued his support for Kolo-Muani by disagreeing with his critics. When asked about Kolo-Muani, Deschamps said, “You don’t love him enough. You don’t see what he is capable of doing. He knows I have confidence in him.” The France manager displayed this confidence by handing Kolo-Muani a start against Chile.

Faith repaid

Kolo-Muani more than repaid the faith placed in him by Deschamps in France’s victory against Chile. The versatile attacker was instrumental on the night with a decisive goal and assist to win the match for Les Bleus. Furthermore, his all-round performance on the right flank showed his abilities to press, be a danger in wide areas and the penalty area, as well as his creative qualities all in one go.

Deschamps was full of praise for Kolo-Muani following his impressive performance which enabled Les Bleus to get back to winning ways: “Kolo has freshness and ability on his side. There’s also a nice-headed goal, that’s good. I’m happy for him, he did everything right.”

A selection headache?

After his impressive performance against Chile, Kolo-Muani may have given Deschamps a potential selection headache ahead of EURO 2024. With the PSG attacker performing so well and effectively on the right flank, he could catapult himself into contention to start over his teammate Ousmane Dembélé in the summer. Kolo-Muani has certainly given his international boss food for thought.

GFFN | Liam Wraith