It has not always been easy for a neutral observer to get behind Adrien Rabiot, whose dependency on the pitch has been repeatedly concealed by a curious, maddening penchant for irritating coaches, clubs and team-mates as much as opponents.
Yet if France are to reach an unprecedented third straight final, and wrest back the trophy from Argentina’s grasp, Didier Deschamps needs his team’s maligned midfield mainstay to keep pursuing what seems a neverending path to proving critics wrong.
