“We’ve already replaced it. I prefer to have the best players available but we have already done without him”, indicated Didier Deschamps about Antoine Griezmann on Friday at a press conference. Not really, as the Atlético de Madrid striker played 84 consecutive matches for the Blues before his withdrawal this month due to a calf injury. To find traces of a meeting of the French team without its number 7, we must in fact dust off the history books and go back to June 13, 2017, a friendly match won by the French against England at the era (3-2), and during which Kylian Mbappé only honored his second start in Blues.
Since then, water has flowed under the bridges and Griezmann has strengthened his status as an essential player. He is not necessarily a man of numbers, and yet, they speak well enough for him and his weight in the French team since he released his status as an international player in 2014: 4th most capped player in the history of the EdF (127 caps), 4th top scorer (44 goals), best passer (36 assists), nearly 68% victory in its 84 consecutive matches, and above all, a fundamental role during the epics of 2018 and of 2022. So when it comes to replacing him, the task is necessarily perilous for his replacement. Yesterday against Germany, it was Warren Zaire-Emery who had the mission to don this costume. And the young Parisian drowned, like almost all his teammates.
No Grizi, no Party
Another statistic which reflects Griezmann's stature in the selection quite well: since the World Cup quarter-final lost against Germany in 2014 (1-0), the France team has never been beaten in the regulation time of a major tournament match when the Madrilenian was the starter. In 2016, the Blues lost against Portugal in overtime, while in 2020 and 2022, it was in the cruel exercise of penalties that Deschamps' players collapsed, against Switzerland, then the Argentina (Griezmann was a substitute in the defeat against Tunisia in 2022, and was surprisingly denied a goal late in the match). Yesterday, the absence of the 33-year-old was felt like never before, and his teammates also recognized it by their own admission after the match.
“I didn’t need this match to know the importance of Antoine”first expressed Didier Deschamps on The Teamwhen Aurélien Tchouameni was even more complimentary: “Antoine is an exceptional player, we missed him. He manages to make the link between the defense, the environment and especially the attack. A player of Antoine's quality cannot be replaced so easily. We hope he will come back quickly.” Same story for Benjamin Pavard: “Antoine is very important to us. But we have very good players in this position. Afterwards, it’s true that he is a leader and that he is important.” Because yes, yesterday, the creative profile of Grizou, his technical affinity with Mbappé, his ability to create gaps, to tirelessly repeat efforts, and to be decisive in often uncertain moments, was sorely missed by the Blues. Tuesday against Chile, we will therefore have to show ingenuity to avoid stumbling, once again, without Antoine Griezmann.
