France-Poland
World Cup 2022: Antoine Griezmann, the balance of the Blues
Antoine Griezmann.
REUTERS - FABIAN BIMMER
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
4 mins
France, the reigning world champion, faces Poland on Sunday December 4 in the round of 16 at the Al-Thumama stadium in Doha.
Antoine Griezmann, very prominent since the start of the World Cup, will speak about his experience in his role between the defense and the tricolor attackers.
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From our special envoy to Qatar,
For the third World Cup final phase of his life, Antoine Griezmann is more serene than ever.
The number 7 of the
Blues
, royal since the start of the tournament, saw his first goal erased in
Qatar
, against Tunisia.
Nothing to make a drama out of it.
Putting the ball in the back of the net is not a priority.
His role here in 2022: to be in the relationship between defense and attackers.
“
With three players in front of me, I have more possibilities, choices
(…)
I am perhaps less close to the opposing surface,
he said.
I'm not going to shoot fifty times a game.
I don't worry about the goal
(he remains in a series of twelve matches without scoring in the selection, editor's note).
I think the team needs me more in the heart of the game. We need this balance.
Without a great defense you do not win the big competitions
”.
“
There is always this little stress, this little adrenaline
”
At 31, the
Atletico Madrid
player seems to be devouring this
World Cup
, and is gradually letting go of much of the stress associated with this kind of event.
“
I told Mattéo
(Guendouzi)
and Jordan
(Veretout)
that what they felt against Tunisia, I felt against Australia in the first match.
This stress, heavy legs, you don't feel the ball... And from the second game, it's gone.
In 2018, it was almost every match like that.
And so in 2014, it wasn't me, I couldn't play.
The more we advance, the more we compete, the more we relax, but there is always this little stress, this little adrenaline.
»
If France is one of the teams that we imagine world champion on December 18, for Antoine Griezmann, it is still a long way off.
“
Poland is going to be complicated, we are not in the quarters.
It's an eighth in the World Cup, and we have seen that we can lose against any team
.
Realistically, Griezmann cannot forget the elimination of France during the last Euro by Switzerland, in the round of 16.
After having experienced difficult times in Barcelona and during his return to Atlético, Griezmann says today “
in full confidence
”.
The child from Mâcon, considered too frail by several training centers, spotted
in extremis
by the Basque club Real Sociedad, was moved to tears during the elimination of France against Germany in Brazil in 2014.
In the heart of the French public
Since then, the one who will become the best player and top scorer of Euro 2016 in France two years later has largely entered the hearts of the French public.
His fun personality and his sometimes whimsical celebrations thrill the kids and all the supporters of "Grizou".
Antoine Griezmann returned to his relationship with coach Didier Deschamps: "
I owe him everything
", launched number 7. "
As coach, if you don't like a player, you don't call him.
Antoine Griezmann, I know him well and I appreciate him a lot
, ”answers Didier Deschamps.
For France, after the defeat against Tunisia, it is now time for a rebound against Poland, which relies on an extraordinary scorer, Robert Lewandowski, author of his first achievement in the World Cup against Saudi Arabia .
Disciplined in recovering the ball, Antoine Griezmann seems to flourish in his new role as a right midfielder.
Another reason to follow him against the White Eagles.
In the World Cup, the two nations only met once in 1982. Boniek's Poland then dominated Tigana's France (3-2).
Poland had not reached the round of 16 since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
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