Like almost every time he puts the tricolor shirt on his shoulders, Olivier Giroud stood out this Thursday night.
In an unleashed Stade de France that paid him a vibrant tribute, the Blues striker weighed in the meeting of the France in a 2-0 win over Austria, scoring a headed goal that had the secret of an Antoine Griezmann cross. Often found, always precise, he brought the ball to life and allowed Kylian Mbappé to have fun. The PSG striker also paid him a nice tribute right after the match. “ I have much more freedom here. The coach knows that there is a 9 like Oliv’ who occupies the defenses and I can walk and enter the space, ask for balls”underlined the goal machine of Paris SG.
1 goal in 12 World Cup matches
Just like that, for the sake of debate:
Giroud in the final phase of the World Cup, is 1 goal in 12 games.
— Vincent Duluc (@vincentduluc) September 23, 2022
Goals precisely, Olivier Giroud knows how to score, he who is close to two units of the national record of Thierry Henry. On 49 occasions, the former Montpellier and Arsenal shook the nets. But that is not enough to convince Didier Deschamps, who said he was not certain about him for the World Cup. The debate between Giroud and Karim Benzema always seems fratricidal, and each one in his opinion decided. To make matters worse, Vincent Duluc added his two cents in a terse sentence that seemed to have amused him a lot on Twitter. “So, for the sake of debate: Giroud in the World Cup finals, it’s 1 goal in 12 games The L’Equipe journalist launched, who recalls that in 2018, despite the final victory, Giroud had not found the net. We have to go back to 2014 and his performance against Switzerland to find traces of one of his goals.
Of course, the debate continued in the comments, with all the same many reminders of Giroud’s contribution to the Blues’ game and the extent to which he allowed Griezmann and Mbappe to break free. There was also talk of Stéphane Guivarc’h, silent center forward for France’s 1998 team and yet also world champion. Others mischievously recalled that Karim Benzema had not scored in the World Cup in his career either, despite the fact that he did not play a game there. A proof that the numbers, thus released, can have the meaning that we give them. Vincent Duluc tries to troll and it works.