It will be a battle of Milan teammates in the World Cup and Denmark defender Simon Kjaer admits it’ll be tough to neutralise Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez for France. ‘He is world class.’

The two nations come together in Qatar on Saturday for the group phase and Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand confessed in his press conference that he asked Kjaer for a few details on how to mark Giroud out of the game.

“Olivier is a better striker now than he was in the past. I talked about it with Simon. Hopefully, knowing the opponent will reveal itself to be an advantage.”

Giroud bagged a brace in the opening 4-1 win over Australia, allowing him to equal Thierry Henry’s all-time record for goals in the France jersey.

“I see Giroud as being absolutely in the elite in terms of movements, playing with his teammates and everything else,” added Milan centre-back Kjaer.

“He is slightly less mobile and outside of the tactics than Karim Benzema, but on the field, he is certainly world class.”

Their mutual Milan teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic predicted before the tournament kicked off – and before Benzema’s injury – that Giroud would be top scorer at the World Cup in Qatar.

“I hope not!” replied Kjaer with a laugh.

Theo Hernandez came off the bench for injured brother Lucas and changed the game against Australia, providing an assist and generally impressing at left-back.

What Lucas Hernandez out of the tournament, Theo is expected to start tomorrow and for the rest of the competition, so there are three Milan representatives in that fixture.

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