Didier Drogba has labelled former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud as “underrated”, which is spot on after the Frenchman hit a historic landmark last night at the World Cup.
France entered the World Cup tournament on Tuesday night with an eye-catching 4-1 victory against Australia in the group stages.
The reigning champions may be without a number of injured high-profile names, including N’Golo Kante, but still look like they could go deep in this year’s tournament.
Giroud scored a goal in each half yesterday, which draws him level with the iconic Thierry Henry as the leading goalscorer for France in international matches on 51 goals.
The 36-year-old forward will now be eyeing to break the record in Qatar, which would be a phenomenal achievement for someone that doesn’t often get mentioned as one of the world’s best attackers.
Olivier Giroud is underrated
From one past Chelsea striker to another, Drogba hailed Giroud during his record-equalling night against Australia.
“I think he’s underrated. He’s a different player to Thierry Henry, who was more explosive… He is the second top scorer behind Henry and when he plays nobody really speaks about him but he’s scoring his goals,” Drogba said on BBC 1’s televised coverage of France vs Australia (7:55pm, 22 November).
Giroud, who was sold by Chelsea in 2021 to AC Milan, continues to age like a fine wine.
He’s been a top performer at the San Siro in Milan colours, which has kept him in contention at international level.
The injury to Karim Benzema this tournament has definitely opened up a bigger window of opportunity for Giroud, who proved yesterday he’s vital to the French.
It’s time the wider football audience starts really appreciating Giroud for his achievements.
He’s an old fashioned No.9 that makes players around him better, so you can see why France love him in the line-up.
Mason Mount recently said he’s never seen anyone else strike a ball cleaner than Giroud, who has got so many great technical attributes to his game.
It does make you wonder if the Blues did get rid of him a year too early.
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