Antoine Griezmann surprised everyone this week by announcing that he will no longer wear the France team jersey. Followers of the Blues bitterly regret this choice of the man who was one of the best players on this team over the last decade.
Samir Nasri, former French international, is one of those who has difficulty digesting this announcement. This Wednesday, during the Canal Football Club show, he declared: “For me, he has the level to continue in the selection and hope to play the World Cup in the United States. A country he appreciates. I think after the euro he was disappointed. Against Italy, he took advantage of Kolo Muani’s illness to start and against Belgium, he did not play. He said to himself that his status had changed. He also arrives with a generation that he does not necessarily know.”
The former Marseille player also tackled Deschamps for judging Griezmann “lucid”
announcing his retirement. “It’s lacking class”he confided about the one with whom he has been in conflict for almost ten years.
For Nasri, a page turns
Indirectly, Nasri was kicked out of the France team because of the emergence of Griezmann (in 2014). This does not prevent him from having a lot of esteem for this player. “ I find that a shame, he added. He is easily in the top 10 of the best French players in history and it stops overnight without him getting the tribute he deserves. It saddens me because we don’t have players of his caliber. A page is turning.”
Besides Nasri, Robert Pirès, 1998 world champion, also deplored the Mâconnais’ step backwards: “For me, it’s too early. He could still play and he has his place. I think the captaincy thing hurt him. He is no longer in Didier Deschamps’ plans.”
