The all-time top scorer of the French national team puts the current world champion in the semi-finals after a great cross from Griezmann to transform
Olivier Giroud is used to living in the shadows. The spotlight has always sought more glamorous, spectacular, seductive companions for the cameras, but Chambéry’s has never stopped obeying and extracting gold from the French mine. He’s not the best striker in the world, but he’s a ‘9’ with capital letters. He works, fights, finishes, goes well from top to bottom, does not stand out and meets everything. The man who just days ago became the all-time top scorer for the ‘bleus’, by beating a legend like Thierry Henry, put the rooster’s eleven on Saturday with a brilliant header in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar. Griezmann served a sweet from the left flank, with his left foot, and the 36-year-old striker happily took advantage of Harry Maguire’s softness to put France in the top four. The unexpected Morocco appears on the radar, a high-voltage duel, but Giroud works with sparks.
Never before had France beat England at a World Cup. The last time they met was 40 years ago, at the World Cup in Spain, where the professionals won 1-3. In 1966, when the title went to the English, the boys of the three lions were also better in the group stage (2-0). After a four-decade wait, this time in the quarter-finals, Giroud has been put in charge of delivering the final blow to Gareth Southgate’s troops. He warned in the 11th minute with a header which Pickford caught. He was not seen much because the security was good, like the one on Mbappé. The French ‘9’, who found himself in the forefront after Benzema lost to injury, continued to chip in rival territory, hoping to find a nugget to trade for the semi-final. He did it in the last stretch of the game.
After Kane’s penalty that equalized Tchouaméni’s goal and several missed opportunities for England, Giroud found what he was looking for. In the 78th minute, a gift-wrapped cross from Griezmann fell into the small zone. The French ‘9’ was where he needed to be to grab Maguire’s wallet and beat Pickford. He celebrated with fury and let go of all the pressure he was carrying, a load of responsibility that he handled with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker. If Lloris had supported his team with several creditable saves, the Milan striker would have qualified for the semi-finals with a lead. He then had time to hit a great drop shot (m.86) that failed to reach Mbappé, who did not believe in his partner’s ability. Then Kane missed a maximum penalty with time served and further improved Giroud’s work.
53 goals and 14 assists
The ‘9’ from France has four goals in Qatar. He did two to Australia, one to Poland and one to England. The latter is his batting number 53 in his team’s 118 games with his jersey. He already takes two from Henry and 11 from Griezmann, who closes the historic podium with 42 hits. The Milan striker became world champion in Russia, where he participated excellently. At the age of 36, the man from Chambéry has been decorated as a Knight of the Legion of Honor and has spent more than 6,700 minutes with the French national team. The 53 converted goals are divided between friendlies (28), qualifiers for a World Cup (6) and Eurocups (6), World Cups (5), League of Nations (5) and Euros (3). To this account we also need to add 14 assists.
Giroud has started four of France’s five games at this World Cup. He was only left on the bench against Tunisia as part of Deschamps’ massive rotations, which resulted in defeat. The only one the Gauls have in the desert tournament. They are already in the semifinals, where they will meet Morocco. The attacker goes back into the mine and tries to find gold where the rest see only stone. It will do this in the shadows and shine the spotlight on others. He does well with the overalls on.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
