France national team coach Didier Deschamps put his faith in 37-year-old Milan striker Olivier Giroud during his recent press conference, telling the media that he would not be in the squad if he weren’t good enough.
France have a wealth of elite attackers available for selection, including Paris Saint Germain’s Kylian Mbappe, Atletico’s Antoine Griezman and Inter’s Marcus Thuram to name a few.
However, Giroud, the nation’s all-time leading goal scorer shows few signs of slowing down for club or country and continues to provide Deschamps with a selection headache up front.
During his press conference on Monday, reported via TMW, the France coach was asked why it is so difficult to do without Giroud in the national team set-up.
“I’m not intentionally trying to play him less,” Deschamps joked in response. He continued: He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t good enough. He is here because of his performances with his club, even though he is advanced in age.
“He will have a long season,” Deschamps warned. “He had some physical problems.
“In the last two matches, he scored very important goals for his club. He will have to maintain this level until the very end because there is lots of competition.”
Giroud and France are due to play their final two matches of qualification for Euro 2024 over the course of the next eight days. Les Bleues are due to face Gibraltar in Nice on Saturday, before travelling to Athens to play Greece next Tuesday.