Reykjavik (AFP)
Relief: Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud, struggling in their respective clubs, found their good habits by being decisive in Blue Reykjavik Friday (1-0).
Both forced by the choice of their club coaches to watch their teammates by far last weekend, on the bench of Barcelona or in the stands of Chelsea, the two accomplices of the attack champion world had to see the call of the international truce sound like a hope.
They took the opportunity to regain confidence, at least a little. By scoring the Giroud victory by provoking Griezmann (66), the two men's match suddenly went from a succession of frustrating failures to a much more positive impression.
A big breath of fresh air after a few complicated weeks, the first one because he does not play Chelsea anymore, the second because his adaptation to the Barça game takes longer than expected.
Despite the cold Laugardalsvöllur, the rural compound of Reykjavik where she has long pained, the pair Giroud-Grizou has never given up, trying to reactivate the automatisms of the World.
And it is on an automatism that came the release: long balloon towards Giroud, deviation of the head towards Griezmann, touched in the surface. Penalty, debatable but granted. Grizou had missed two in September, he let his friend hit him. Complicity paid.
- "Able to react well" -
At the best moment to get a smile back because the two offensive elements live until then a beginning of season a little similar. And frustrating.
Giroud, who could hope to finally become the indisputable N.9 Blues since Chelsea has been banned from recruiting and loan Argentinean Gonzalo Higuain has ended, waxes the bench: Frank Lampard prefers young Tammy Abraham, a formidable efficiency since the beginning of the season.
Griezmann, since his transfer from Atlético Madrid to FC Barcelona, has certainly scored three times but has struggled to get used to the position play of the Catalans, and his relationship with Lionel Messi questions.
Didier Deschamps's answer? Griezmann "is in a team that has not yet found the full regime, it does not happen overnight (...) I do not worry about Antoine". For Giroud, the situation worries her a little more, she "is not the best" but "he has always been able to react well to these situations".
Result: the coach of the Blues does not hesitate long before deciding to repeat their confidence in Iceland. Too bad for the lack of rhythm of the big bearded man, who has "compensated" by working the acceleration repeatedly training.
Well he took: his favorite scorer scored a 37th goal, here he is four units of Michel Platini, second best scorer in the history of Bleus. And his playmaker reassured himself by being once again the technical leader of French animation, even if the goal escaped him as in September despite several attempts (40th, 58th, 68th).
Finally, and this is a sign that everything is not going so badly in the mind of the Barça player, Griezmann did not do everything to shoot the penalty, even though Deschamps had maintained his confidence in the exercise . Just like his teammates, by the way. Raphaël Varane said on Thursday: "He has our confidence and I hope that if he has a penalty he will have the opportunity to transform it." For Turkey on Monday, maybe, just to get a smile all over again.
© 2019 AFP