Ibrahima Konate shows Liverpool fans his worth as history made in France game

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate was handed the captain's armband for the final few minutes of France's latest fixture, taking on the role for his national team for the second match in a row.

Konate skippered his country against Israel last week when Aurelien Tchouameni was substituted. Against Belgium in Brussels, the Real Madrid midfielder was sent off for a second bookable offense with around 15 minutes of normal time left to play.

PSG forward Randal Kolo Muani scored a brace for France, who held onto its lead despite being down to 10 men. And history was made as Tchouameni became the first France captain to be sent off since Zinedine Zidane’s infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup final.

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Konate played the full 90 minutes twice for France but the Liverpool center-back appears to have come through unscathed. He will expect to be in the starting line-up for his club as Arne Slot's team takes on Chelsea at Anfield in the Premier League at the weekend.

The fact that Konate inherited the captain's armband in back-to-back competitive games for France — despite the likes of Mike Maignan, Jules Kounde, and Ousmane Dembele having more international experience — speaks volumes about head coach Didier Deschamps' faith in the Liverpool ace.

Konate had already put himself forward as someone who could be a leader when it was known that Kylian Mbappe would not be involved during this international break, with Antoine Griezmann having retired. "Being a leader is something that is innate," he said. "You either have it or you don’t. You have to be someone that everyone likes.

"A leader has to be there, especially when things aren’t going well. It’s like the foundations of a house; he holds up the group so that everything can go well. Some players have the profile. I have two or three names: Mike (Maignan), myself, Jules (Kounde) and Aurelien Tchouameni. Those are the only names that come to mind."

Liverpool.com says: Konate has huge potential as a center-back and he could become one of the very best in the world if injuries allow him to. When Virgil van Dijk moves on from Liverpool, Konate should be eyeing up that kind of level of dominance at the back because he has the skillset to make it possible.