Rio Ferdinand thought Aurelien Tchouameni dominated the World Cup quarter-final between England and France yesterday.
Speaking on his own YouTube channel, Ferdinand applauded the Real Madrid midfield and former Chelsea target for bossing the exciting contest on Saturday evening.
Tchouameni took to the global stage once again last night and proved his credentials as one of the very best in the business.
Despite facing a luxurious midfield trio of Jude Bellingham, Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice, the young Frenchman managed to get a real grip of the game.
He truly stamped his mark on the contest by smashing a terrific long range strike past Jordan Pickford a quarter of the way through the first-half.
The 21-year-old isn’t known for his goal scoring ability, but he demonstrated his abilities as the full, formidable package.
Aurelien Tchouameni wows at the World Cup
It was a match-up between two of the brightest talents in the modern game, with Tchouameni and Bellingham battling it out to be ultimate victor.
“Tchouameni and (Adrien) Rabiot came out and said from the word go: ‘Bellingham’s getting a lot of hype here and he’s getting spoken about’”, declared Ferdinand.
“I think in their minds it was like: ‘there’s too much focus on Bellingham when we are here and you’ve got to respect us’.
“I think Tchouameni first half, obviously he gave away the penalty, but he set the tone and said: ‘listen, come on then. We are going to be together for the next ten years, Jude, let’s see who’s the best’. That’s the attitude I saw from Tchouameni.
“Rabiot I thought was fantastic as well.”
In the personal duel, Tchouameni came out on top.
It was a fight that pitted a pair of individuals who have both been admired by Chelsea.
Bellingham is reportedly on Todd Boehly’s radar, whilst there was apparently a major push to sign Tchouameni in the summer before he moved to Madrid.
His moment in the spotlight yesterday was almost ruined when he gave away the penalty that allowed England to equalise after the interval.
Yet, a late Olivier Giroud header and a Harry Kane miss from the spot ensured the French marched through to the semi-final.
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