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In the aftermath of France’s 1-0 win against Portugal, which booked their place in the playoffs of the UEFA Nations League, Didier Deschamps sounded a warning to Olivier Giroud.
The Chelsea striker put in a poor performance in the friendly against Finland days earlier. However, the France boss wasted little time in reminding him that his lack of game time at the club level could soon affect his place in the national team.
"The situation is not good for him. It is for him to see, he will decide,” Deschamps said of Olivier Giroud, as quoted by Goal.
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“But in terms of the France team, psychologically and physically for him, he has every interest in having playing time. I hope that by January he will have more playing time. After that, he will stay [in the squad] or he won’t," said Deschamps.
Olivier Giroud responds to Didier Deschamps with goals
As clear as the warning was, Deschamps may have since changed his opinion after watching Olivier Giroud score twice as France defeated Sweden 4-2 on Tuesday. The 34-year-old returned to the starting line-up in style and his performance was a timely reminder of his importance to the team.
When France won the FIFA World Cup in 2018, many criticised Giroud for his lack of goals. In fact, the striker ended the tournament without scoring a single goal despite starting all of France’s games in Russia.
However, Giroud was still one of the team’s most consistent performers during the tournament. Despite stiff competition from the likes of Anthony Martial, Kylian Mbappe and Marcus Thiram, he reminded everyone on Tuesday that he’s still the team’s most reliable forward.
After Sweden had taken the lead through Viktor Claesson, Giroud drew France level with a typical finish, sweeping a cross from Thuram into the net.
The Chelsea striker then headed France ahead in the second half. Goals from Benjamin Pavard and Kingsley Coman ensured that Les Bleus secured an impressive 4-2 win.
Olivier Giroud has now scored 44 goals for France and is only seven goals behind Thierry Henry, who is currently the country’s all-time top-scorer with 51 strikes. Although he’s 34, Giroud is still very potent in front of goal as shown by his recent performance against Sweden.
