N´Golo Kante is fundamental for France – Lucas Hernandez

N’Golo Kante is a “fundamental” part of France’s team because of the character he shows on the pitch, according to international team-mate Lucas Hernandez.

Kante was an unused substitute as France battled to a 2-2 friendly draw at home to Iceland on Thursday and his absence was notable, as the world champions struggled to effectively nullify the visitors in midfield.

Kylian Mbappe eventually inspired a late comeback after being 2-0 down, as the Paris Saint-Germain star forced a Holmar Eyjolfsson own goal and scored a late penalty.

Kante is expected to come straight back into the starting XI for the visit of Germany in the Nations League on Tuesday, and Lucas is confident he will make a difference.

“The character he shows on the pitch, the desire he has – they make him a very important player,” the Atletico Madrid defender told reporters.

“He is everywhere, he gets 15-20 balls per game – he’s huge. Having a midfielder like him is a fundamental piece [of the team].”

We’ve had a few requests for a translation of this one – the hit of the summer – so here you go:

He is small,
He is nice,
He managed to stop Leo Messi,
But we all know he’s a cheat (at cards),
N’Golo Kanté! #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/sYduaGZOQq

— French Team  (@FrenchTeam) July 18, 2018

Thomas Lemar joined Lucas at Atletico in pre-season and appears to have adapted well to life under the infamously demanding Diego Simeone.

Lucas even thinks Lemar has settled quicker than Antoine Griezmann did after joining from Real Sociedad in 2014.

“Lemar is a very great player, he has adapted very quickly to Atletico, which is not easy,” Lucas added.

“Antoine had trouble early, all the big players had trouble. He concentrated and he is an indisputable starter with us.

“In the national team he is not an indisputable starter, but he is a great player. In each training session he gives the maximum, he has a very good mentality.”