Olivier Giroud who signed for AC Milan in the last transfer market window has spoken to the microphones of The Guardian about many topics.
The centre-forward spoke about his decisions and future with France's national team:
"I don’t think I will ever say I’m retiring from international duty. If the manager needs me, I will go. I never asked Frank Lampard to play when I was at Chelsea, for example. When I wasn’t playing, I was frustrated but I just carried on doing my best and trying to help the team reach the target. When I was supposed to leave [a transfer to Internazionale was lined up in January 2020], I told him: ‘Look, you’re not playing me, I’m third choice, so let me go.’ But he said he would give me a chance. He gave me that chance and I did my job on the pitch, scored eight goals in 11 matches and helped the team to qualify for the Champions League."
Giroud continued:
“Now it’s the same with the national team. It’s simply that if the manager needs me, he will call me; if not, he won’t. I am 100% focused on Milan and being decisive and effective for my club. Let’s see what happens. Also, apparently N’Golo Kanté and I can have medals for the Nations League [despite not playing in the final stages] because we were heavily involved in the qualifiers. So that’s a nice addition to my roll of honour, isn’t it?”
On the criticism:
"When people criticise you, most of the time it’s behind a computer or a social media account. I don’t look at much of what is said about me. I know when I’ve played well and when I’m not doing well. When you read things, you need to know what to take out of the message: the most important thing is to pick up positive things you can do, not to pay too much attention to the negative."
On controversy with Benzema:
"All my career in the national team they opposed me to him, pitting one against the other. You had the pro-Benzema and the pro-Giroud. I always said I don’t have any problem with him and I loved playing with him but it was a media thing to make out that we were always fighting each other. It was never true."
On relationship with Mbappé:
"That was such a small thing. He was a bit upset for a couple of days even though I explained to him that I wasn’t pointing the finger at him. I hadn’t meant to be harsh on anyone. I had just answered a question where a journalist said to me after the game: ‘Oh, you were very discreet but you scored two goals.’ It’s always like they’re trying to piss me off. I just replied: ‘Yeah, maybe we could have found each other in a different way.’ That’s it. The media tried to make it bigger and say that ruined the atmosphere among the team. But come on! We had a conversation between adults and it wasn’t a problem.”
So what happened to France at the Euros:
"We really wanted to win, especially after losing the Euro 2016 final at home to Portugal, which was very painful. We had the strongest team on paper. We just lacked maybe a little bit of a cool head against Switzerland [in the quarter-finals]. I don’t really know but when you are leading 3-1 with 10 minutes to go, it cannot happen that you concede two goals and lose on penalties. But then, that’s the beauty of football, everyone can beat the best team in the world. Nothing is written in advance."
On the relation of his faith with his career:
"I believe in the story of Jesus in the Bible and that it is to bring us more humility,” he says. “Suffering is a basic part of life. It builds your personality as a human being. That is where my mental strength comes from. I have always had to face difficulties, like everyone in life. Nothing is easy in life, you have to grab it and get out of your comfort zone. My faith helped me every single day, particularly when I had to make big decisions. For example, you can understand from my book why I didn’t go to Everton and why I stayed at Chelsea instead of signing for Inter. One thing I will tell you is God has got a plan for every single person on Earth. We make our path and the Lord sets the pace."
In his book he details how he decided not to go to Everton or Inter after one of his mother’s friends, named Nicole, got in touch both times to tell him about prophetic dreams she had had, warning that the moves would not give the striker the satisfaction he sought. Each time subsequent events suggested the advice had been good. Giroud values Nicole’s visions.
So has she had any other tips for him recently?
"Well, this is a little bit of a scoop. She said: ‘You will have to trust God regarding your future and there was a kind of prediction that I would not get into the national team this time. So many things that turned out to be true, I believe those are signs from God in heaven."
