"Very happy" - Ibrahima Konate opens up on his international debut

Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has made it clear that he was "very happy" about making his debut for France last Friday.

The 22-year-old started in the heart of France's defence against Austria. The Nations League match finished in a 1-1 draw.

Post-game, Konate opened up on what it meant to him to play for his country.

“I’m very happy to have made my first appearance, unfortunately there is no result that goes with it, we are still disappointed but I hope that we will finish the next game in victory," he said, as quoted by Empire of the Kop.

“Singing the national anthem in full flavour, although I have already played for the youth teams, but it’s true that to sing with the first-team of France it does something and as I have said I am very happy to make my first appearance.

“It looked like we should have got the victory but now we have to refocus on Croatia, this match is over we cannot do anything about it, we will do the analysis and see what things we can improve on to be able to perform better in the next match and I hope that we will."

Anfield Watch Verdict

We are delighted for Konate. At the end of the day, not everyone gets the opportunity to represent their country.

On another note, Konate was brilliant for Liverpool last season. The centre-back averaged a WhoScored player rating of 6.96 across the 2021-22 campaign.

The exciting thing about Konate is that he is only 23 years of age. We can only see him improving over time.

As things stand, Konate will be Virgil van Dijk's successor.

The Frenchman is contracted until the conclusion of the 2025-26 season. Therefore, Konate won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

We look forward to watching him in the years to come.