Sunday, Olivier Giroud played his last match on French soil with the Blues against Canada. But this meeting was in all likelihood also his last match with the French team as a starter. While the Euro will signal the end of the Savoyard’s international career, the latter should indeed have to be content with crumbs in Germany.
His start against Canada is only due to the blow to the knee received by Kylian Mbappé, four days earlier, against Luxembourg, Didier Deschamps not having wanted to take any risks with his star striker. The French coach initially wanted to take advantage of this last preparation match to align what should be the Blues’ attack at the Euro with Marcus Thuram and Ousmane Dembélé surrounding Kylian Mbappé.
His performance against Canada didn’t help…
And if Olivier Giroud expected to have to put up with a substitute role at the Euro, the situation of the top scorer in the history of the France team became all the more precarious as Didier Deschamps decided to align Kylian Mbappé in the axis. It is indeed illusory to imagine the 98 world champion replacing the neo-Madrilenian during the match.
Didier Deschamps could certainly bring in Olivier Giroud in place of Marcus Thuram or Ousmane Dembélé, but it is also much more likely to see Bradley Barcola, Randal Kolo Muani and Kingsley Coman, more capable of destabilizing a tight defense, being preferred to him. time of the first changes. The only hope of having a voice for the former Gunner, matches where the need to have more presence in the area would be felt.
And Olivier Giroud may be all the more worried about his fate since his performance against Canada was disastrous. Weaned from balls (only 14), the future Galaxy striker was otherwise clumsy and out of time. And if he tried to be useful in the pressing, his repeated mistakes demonstrated his frustration.
