Saint-Denis (AFP)
Stuck on the bench at Chelsea, Olivier Giroud transcended himself on Tuesday with the Blues against Sweden (4-2) in Saint-Denis, his favorite garden where no other French scorer has shone as much as him.
The world champion, clinical and voluntary, clings to his blue family.
Clearly, the great N.9 is not just a goal hunter in the tricolor jersey.
He is also an outstanding doubts hunter, able to leave his concerns in the locker room as soon as he walks through the selection door.
Because between this gathering and the previous one in October, Giroud had found the starving playing time that escorts him since the start of the season with the "Blues" of Chelsea.
Never tenured by Frank Lampard in this interval, he did not take off from the substitutes' bench for four matches, played around thirty minutes against Rennes in the Champions League (3-0 victory on November 4) and fifteen minutes distributed at the end of the match against the poorly classified Burnley and Sheffield in the league.
The situation does not give a smile to the big bearded man, and it does not greatly please the coach Didier Deschamps, eager to see his striker more fulfilled.
"He had sometimes complicated situations, today it is not good for him," said the boss of the Blues Monday to the press.
"Can she improve? He will decide. But compared to the France team, and for him psychologically and physically, he has every interest in having playing time."
- Substitute in Lisbon -
Deschamps had chosen to revive the striker in the first match in November, but Giroud had drowned like his partners against Finland (2-0 defeat), in a friendly.
In Portugal on Saturday, in the shock of the group in the League of Nations, the former player of Montpellier and Arsenal in particular had seen Anthony Martial steal his starting place.
The Manchester United striker, very interesting in the movements, the efforts provided and the occasions caused, however, did not score.
Giroud, he did honor to his status as a tireless worker and top scorer in activity for the Blues, registering his 43rd and 44th pawns on Tuesday on the evening of his 105th selection.
Very present from the start in the duels and the defensive withdrawal, the imposing mover of the opposing surfaces has put the Blues back in working order, by his all-terrain pressing, after the opening of the early score of the Swedes (5th, 1-0 ), launching and concluding the counter-attack of the equalizer (16th, 1-1) so characteristic of its abnegation and its effectiveness.
He recovers a ball from the French half, makes a relay with Antoine Griezmann, slows down his frantic race when he sees Marcus Thuram fix the defense to the left and takes the back pass of the neo-international with a dry strike from the left between the post and the goalkeeper (16th).
If he does not convert two crosses from Moussa Sissoko (12th, 53rd), his third header is the right one, at the hour mark on a service from the incoming Kylian Mbappé resumed by diving (59th, 3-1).
- In front of Henry ... in Saint-Denis -
With his double, Giroud became the only tricolor top scorer at the Stade de France with 22 units, two more than the former record holder Thierry Henry.
We have to believe that the Londoner likes Saint-Denis.
Last month, in a friendly against Ukraine (7-1), he had passed Michel Platini as the second leading scorer in the history of the Blues thanks to a double, already, for his hundredth selection disputed with the armband of captain in arm.
Two years ago, he was also the one who plunged the Stade de France and its 80,000 supporters into excessive jubilation for the first post-World Cup match played at home, on September 9, 2018 against the Netherlands in the League of Nations. (2-1).
This new performance, Tuesday, falls at best before finding the competition of Timo Werner and Tammy Abraham at Chelsea, and before the long international hiatus.
"Olivier is a great competitor, the jersey of the France team is close to his heart, he has important statistics, he is one of our leaders within the team", said his captain Hugo Lloris on Monday before concluding .
"One thing is certain: everyone wants to see him again in March."
© 2020 AFP