Jules Kunde, Strong In Sustaining And Actively Helping Attacks
JAKARTA - In the fierce match that took place at the D\"usseldorf Arena, Monday July 1, France's national team defender Jules Koundé was named the Best Player by Vivo. Although he did not play a direct role in creating goals for France, his contribution from the wing sector was felt.
"He is very strong in defending, very helpful in the area of attack, providing dangerous crosss, and very good in one-on-one situations against Doku," said UEFA Technical Observer Panel.
Jules Koundé himself admitted that he was surprised by Belgium's game. "I was surprised by the way Belgium played. I thought they would attack more, especially when they saw their line-up. But we have players like Kylian (Mbappé) or Antoine (Griezmann) who can make opposing defenders more vigilant," said Koundé.
Furthermore, Koundé added that this was France's best performance throughout the competition. "For me, this is our best performance in this competition. We created many chances, we played a comprehensive game, and goals at the end of the game made sure all our efforts paid off," he said.
Koundé also talked about his current performance. "Maybe when I came back from injury, I wasn't at the top of my performance. But I kept working hard, seeing my weaknesses and now I feel good in terms of fitness. I know my teammates and coaches believe in me and this is the best period in my career," he explained.
France's 1-0 win over Belgium further confirmed their position as one of the favorite teams in the competition, and Koundé's brilliant performance was one of the main highlights of the match.
Jules Koundé has also impressed in four matches of this competition, with a total playing time of 360 minutes, an average of 90 minutes per game. Even though he did not score, his contribution in the back line was very prominent.
In the defense aspect, Koundé recorded three tackles with an average of 0.75 per match and managed to reclaim the ball 25 times, an average of 6.25 times per match. His expertise in surviving can be seen from the record percentage accuracy of his pass which reached 90.25%. The highest speed he recorded was 34.1 km/hour, with an average speed of 31.46 km/hour per match. During four matches, Koundé covered a total distance of 42.24 km, with an average of 10 km per match. Amazingly, Koundé never received a yellow or red card, showing his discipline in the field.
In terms of the distribution of the ball, Kound\'e completed 191 of 210 passes with an accuracy of 90.25%. He managed to complete 63 of 69 short passes, 120 of 129 medium passes, and 8 of 12 long passes. His feedback back was almost perfect, with 45 of the 46 successful passes.
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He also successfully directed 73 of 81 passes to the left and 13 of the 14 passes to the right. Although the accuracy of the cross was only 14.29%, with 2 of the 14 crosss successful, Koundé remained effective in the distribution of other balls. He also recorded 5 free kicks and 306 times possession of the ball. Furthermore, Koundé made 21 passes to a third of the opponent's field, 15 passes to the key game area, and 8 passes to the penalty area.
In the attacking sector, even though he did not score a goal or assist, Koundé continued to contribute with 6 successful drones, 7 running to a third of the opponent's field, and 3 running into the key game area. He was also never in an offside position or taking a corner kick.
In terms of discipline, Koundé has never received a yellow or red card throughout the match. He only committed two offenses, with one violation in his own half-field. However, he also suffered two violations from opponents.
With these incredible statistics, Jules Koundé showed solid performance in defense and distributing the ball, making it an important key in France's victory.