In anticipation of the UEFA Nations League match on Sunday against Croatia, the French manager pays tribute to the record position match of France. Olivier Giroud (38) will be honored on Sunday for the decisive meeting of France in the Stade de France.
His old manager at Les Bleus, Didier Deschamps, had a lot of praise for the Los Angeles FC striker: “His lifetime speaks for himself. That is his merit. What I remember, his visceral attachment is to the Blue Jersey. Just like I always placed the French team above everything above everything, even when he said less luckily.”
Giroud was part of the French team that won the World Cup 2018. The Ligue 1 champion at Montpellier HSC scored 57 times for Les Bleus and scored four goals in their run to the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar.
He was not expected to get a lot of playing time at that tournament, only arriving as a starter after Karim Benzema (37) was excluded with an injury. The man born in Chambéry made his international debut for France among the predecessor Laurent Blanc van Deschamps in a friendship of November 2011 against the USMNT.
On 29 February 2012 he scored his first international goal in a 2-1 friendly victory over Germany. A former FA Cup winner at Arsenal and a UEFA Champions League and Europa League winner at Chelsa, Giroud had three goals for the national team when they finished second in the Euro 2016.
The Ligue 1 Top Gointcorer in 2011-12 scored his last goal in French colors during a friendly with Chile in Marseille in 2024, a match that France won 3-2. His last performance with Les Bleus was in the semi-final of Euro 2024, which came as a replacement in their 2-1 defeat against the final champions Spain.
In 2018 he was appointed Legion of Honor of the Nation after he had helped France to conquer their second World Cup title. He made 137 performances for Les Bleus in all competitions.
GFFN | Joel Lefevre
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