Olivier Giroud, AC Milan star striker, expressed himself in an interview granted to StarCasinoSport. Here are his statements:
"I was proud to sign for the great Milan, because I am a fan of them and because there are many French who have played, done well and won in the Rossoneri; like Papin, who is one of my favorite players."
On his career so far:
"I signed in Montpellier at the age of 23. I was proud to play in Ligue 1. I wasn't ready to play it sooner ... Every player needs his time to get to the top, I am proud of the stops I made before getting to Ligue 1."
On his faith:
"I have a sentence from Psalm 23 tattooed on my arm. I wanted to mark my faith on my skin: it is very important to me. At 20 I wanted to get a tattoo, I told my mother and she told me to write a important sentence of the Bible", said Giroud.
On becoming a World Champion with the France national team:
"At 10-11 years old I told my friends that one day I would win the World Cup. It was the dream of all the children. They reminded me of this the day before the final. After the final it is difficult to return to work and train. But a phrase that helps me is that football is a continuous beginning. Determination is important, I wanted to win even more trophies. Never give up."
Giroud on Stefano Pioli and Arséne Wenger:
"They are different. Wenger was a very experienced coach, very very calm: he rarely got angry or screamed. Pioli has a lot of passion. He has temperament as he likes to talk loudly, to instill in us motivations and game ideas. Wenger and Pioli are very different, but I like both personalities."
On himself and Pippo Inzaghi:
"Only the numbers remain? Yes, for a striker the numbers are very important and you are evaluated on the numbers. That's what you remember at the end of the season. I want, however, to help the team: I'm not selfish; today it is too important for a team to have a striker who does the things people don't see: from pressing to running to dictate the pass, opening up spaces. It's a more global role than numbers, but in the end we all look at the numbers."
Is Zlatan Ibrahimovic your idol?
"Idol? I don't like this word, because my idol is Jesus Christ. I admired Shevchenko and Ibrahimovic, but I haven't told that yet to Zlatan. At 20 he was already a top striker. I didn't buy his shirt, but my friends gave it to me. Maybe I'll have Ibra sign it."
On the real Giroud:
"The fans have seen the real Giroud, but I know I can do even more to help the team. Now I would like to play more. The coach makes his choices, but I am ready and I feel very good physically. I'm ready to achieve our goals. I know that I need to score more goals."
On the Scudetto race:
"Yes, sure. Now we have an important match against Inter. If we win we have a good opportunity to be there at the end. I played and scored in the first derby against Tottenham, it was too important for the Arsenal fans."
What is your goal in 2022?
""My first goal is to win the Scudetto with Milan, then what comes next is a bonus for me", said Giroud. "I only have Milan and my family in my head."
