France v Croatia - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Final
Perhaps the best young prospect in football – he is still just 25 – and also one of the best defenders in the world, Raphael Varane won the 2018 FIFA World Cup with France and the Champions League with Real Madrid this year and he was one of the standout performers of both teams. Varane has a very composed head on his shoulders and his ability on the ball is uncanny. He was the defensive rock for France in the World Cup, and at Real, even with the eccentric yet strong Ramos beside him, Varane managed to shine throughout the season.
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Varane, even with all the success in the world at his footsteps, prefers to stay away from publicity and it is the same character that is reflected in his football. He is not a rough tackler, neither is he an old school defender. Varane is the latest breed of defenders who think like a complete footballer, who has the confidence on his own abilities and goes about his business while managing to stay under the radar. He is even better than his Real teammate Ramos when it comes to ball playing, yet it is never appreciated.
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A good point to note is that Varane has never lost a final in his career. He has appeared in 10 finals and won all then. That is some record and it is all because of his abilities on the ball.
Varane is technically gifted and he uses his technique and ball playing skills to defend with extreme ease. The fact that he is very efficient with his tackles makes it easy for him to win the ball back. However, it is his abilities with the ball which makes him the best ball-playing defender in the world right now.
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Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.
Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.
Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.
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