World Cup: Olivier Giroud on Mbappe & winning the World Cup

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1:11Hello, welcome to the Football Daily Pod. A special episode for you today as I'm with France's all-time top goal scorer, Olivier Giroud. Olivier, thank you very much for joining us. My pleasure. Is it strange watching the World Cup and not being involved? For the first time since a long time, yes, you have to be honest, it's a bit weird, it's a weird feeling. I'm the first supporter now of the national team. But you know what, I have no regret because I have done my time with the national team. I felt like I was really lucky to win that World Cup, to play three finals. And now I just, you know, retired and leave the space for the youngsters.

2:04They have a great generation. And as I said, my kids and myself, we will cheer up for them. Do you think you could, if you wanted to, because you're still playing club football, and you've signed for another year at Lille. Could you still play international football if you wanted to?

2:28Well, it's a question of you should ask the manager. But I feel good. You know what? I feel good. That's why I carry on my career. And I always say that as long as my body allows me to play, if I'm ready mentally because the body is one thing some of the players they stop their career because of I was speaking with Micah his knee didn't allow him to carry on but if the body is right you're feeling good you also need that motivation determination to carry on to always get out of your comfort zone because it's a lot of sacrifices. It's very demanding, the high level and international level, you know, even more.

3:20But yeah, why not? If Deschamps asks me to play one more game, I can try. But, you know, I don't feel a massive difference between two years ago when I retired after the Euros Cup and And now, of course, you know, I'm turning 40 in September and still running a lot on the pitch and feeling well. But can I be ready for the best level, like international level? I don't know, to be honest. We'll talk about your career and certainly winning the World Cup and everything to do with France. If I take you back to the 11-year-old who watched France win the World Cup in 1998, which was a huge moment for the country, wasn't it?

4:14You said that day, didn't you, that you would play in the World Cup for France? So the story is when I was 11, I was watching it with my friends. It was crazy in France. It was like all the people went in the street celebrating this victory to Brazil, 3-0. Can you imagine that at home? So yeah, the country, the entire country was on fire. And I said to my friend, one year I will win the World Cup. But I believe a lot of young kids. Yeah, I probably speak from his too. so yeah my friend remind me this day before the night before the final and i felt like it was uh so cute you know and yeah i said no you're right now i need to um i need to honor my promise so in 20 so before the 2018 the day before the final on the 14th of july sent me a text and told me don't remember you said you're gonna win it and he did not even mention it the whole competition and yeah i felt like it was yeah um yeah i don't know not not destiny but yeah you know i felt like you know give me some confidence when you then came across and let's not forget didier deschamps was then your manager but he was a hugely important part of 98 and that frank french teams are down there's obviously with iconic iconic figures in world football not just french football yeah when you then met them for the first time did you go back to being that 11 year old boy seeing your heroes or was it more when i met deschamps yeah well um i played i played against him when he was a Marseille manager.

6:17When he was Marseille manager, I think we won the league with Montpellier. Montpellier. Yeah, 2012. We lost a final to Marseille also in 2011, the League Cup final in Stade de France. So yeah, I had two good years in Montpellier and I think he knew me from that period. But yeah, so much respect for Didier Deschamps. He did win everything and he's got that aura, you know, in France and he's one of the main men of the national team. So yeah, I felt like when I first were in national team, it was Laurent Blanc. Laurent Blanc was also called Le Président. Le Président. Don't ask me why, I don't remember, but, you know, big personality, charismatic, charismatic.

7:13Yeah, charismatic. Chris Bartes's head. Yeah, yeah. And so I was really proud. And when Didier Deschamps arrived, I was telling myself, wow, you're lucky because you had Laurent Blanc and now you have Deschamps. So two big names of the national team, France 98. So I met Zidane, obviously, a few times, but didn't get to know him really well. Maybe we'll be the next one. So now we are really lucky, you know, in France, the young players, they can learn from the best. Was that the kind of manager he, I was going to say he was, but still is, in that he can command respect from you all because he has been there?

8:01and done that, that aura. Yes, we've got so much respect for what he achieved in his career. He's got that legitimacy. When he explains to you how to win trophies, you listen well, you open your ears and your eyes, of course, because one more time, he's a legend, French legend. So I think that's why everybody in France trusts him. How do you look back now on that 2018 World Cup? When I look back, we've been solid, really solid, you know, as a team. The turning point of that competition was the victory to Argentina because we were leading in a competition almost, the whole competition about nine minutes against Argentina.

9:00During that nine minutes, I didn't feel like the team was doubting and we came back really quick, nine minutes after with Pavard, you know, that volley top corner. And I felt the team really strong, you know, and confident and playing like with no fearless. And yeah, because we were leading all the competition that's why I said we were really solid we kept the result we had to defend the result and Deschamps is very good for that we didn't play the Spain game or possession attacking we just do what we know to do good we score goals and after we defend well. And that's what we've done, I remember, against Belgium.

9:57Maybe we'll talk about that later, but Belgium was such a close game. And, you know, with that golden generation, even if they never won something, we said, like, it was one of the best Belgium teams. So with Dembele, Kompany, Hazard, Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, we've been suffering so much. And I think what makes us really strong in that team, it's the team spirit, the team cohesion, that solidarity that you could see Griezmann and myself, the two strikers with Kylian defending in midfield, you know, like chasing Eden and all these players. It was a crazy game and I think the final, we started the game really well and I think we were the better team on the pitch.

10:54Your role in that World Cup was quite selfless, wasn't it? Yeah, because as I said, as long as we were leading in the game, we were defending our result. you know, and Arsene Wenger used to tell me, do the **** people don't see. You know, it's very true because specialists, sometimes they can see it, but not everybody. For example, the pressing, the defending runs, you know, to help the midfielders and your teammates, the deflections, the flickers, you know, all that good understanding I had on a pitch with Griezmann and Mbappe. And I assist and I did not score on that World Cup for six games.

11:44Yeah, I did not score on that World Cup. So I was really frustrated. I assist. I made two assists. I play a big part. And a lot of my teammates told me and said in the media, if we didn't add Ole, maybe probably we couldn't win. It was really nice from them. But yeah, I felt like frustrated because as a striker, Obviously, your job is also to score goals. Today, I'm still the top scorer of the national team. For how long, I don't know. Yeah, and that World Cup, that's why, you know, that World Cup 22, when I score four goals, you know, it was like kind of a revenge for me because people were saying, oh, look, they won the World Cup, but it's not thanks to him because he didn't score.

12:35Were you going to bed in Russia in 2018, worrying that you hadn't scored? Yeah, yeah. But even though you knew that you were doing the right role for the team? Yes, yes. Because that's difficult, isn't it? Didier Deschamps knew what I was doing for the team. My teammates too, the specialists too. But, you know, all the people who don't see, are not specialists about football, they just watch the stats. Like today, you know, it's all about statistics. Yeah. They don't... Nowadays, we don't even watch games. We just see the highlights, who is scoring, who is on the score sheet and that's it. So yeah, more the competition.

13:18That was that goal. You know, I had a shot on target against Peru. It was one of my best games. We won 1-0, but it was a tight game also. I shoot, deflection from the keeper or the defender, and the ball was going in the goal. You know, it was only a second game. First game, I was on the bench because I was so injured. In my head, I had nine stitches. Anyway, the ball was going in a goal. And I've seen Mbappé like pushing the ball back of the net. It was his first goal in the World Cup. So I can understand him. He really wanted to score. But I think the ball was going in the net. So I was not angry against him.

14:03But afterwards, you know, after the third game of the group, last 16, quarter final, semi-final, I still did not score. And second manager, Guy Stéphane, second manager of the national team, Guy Stéphane told me it's going to be for tomorrow. Every time he's saying next game, next game. Never happened, but as a journalist asked me if I would give my walker back and take the top scorer Hurricane at that tournament, I would say, come on, come on, never ever. But it did fire you up, as you've just said, to then prove a point in the next tournament. Definitely. To make sure that you got gold. Yes, for sure.

14:50I did score in 2014 in Brazil and I did score in 22. And, you know, in a season, it can happen to a striker who's not going to score for six games. You know, it happened to everybody almost. I mean, Ronaldo and Messi, I don't know, but I'm sure it happened to Allende to talk about Premier League. But, you know, in a competition and all the countries watching, it was different. So, yeah, it was kind of relieved.

15:49a generation. There could be no Messi and Ronaldo are both great players. There had to be one that was better. They 100 million percent pushed each other to the next level. You know, we were the lucky ones who got to see it. I'm Steve Crossman. This is Sporting Giants Messi v Ronaldo. Listen first on BBC Sound.

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17:09At the People World Cup 2026. The Football Daily Podcast. With Mark Chapman. Listen on BBC Sounds. What's your relationship like with Mbappe? If you look over your, if you could turn over your other shoulder, there is the iconic. Oh, you made it for me? For you, yeah. It's a nice one. I did it personally a little bit. I printed it out and framed it for you. That's a great picture. It is, isn't it? It's a fantastic picture. Yeah, yeah. It's when I beat T.T. Henry record. He assist me, and I just went towards the corner flag and knee slide and like so happy. and I turn around and I've seen Kylian jumping in my arms and I told him, you know that I love you, bro.

17:57I was so happy on that day. Yeah, he can score, he can assist, he can do anything. What's he like as a person though? Is he demanding? Yeah, very demanding with himself and the others. But I don't know, I think some people, they have a wrong image of Kylian because maybe the way he's communicating with media. I heard some other players from other countries, they said, oh, you French people, you look arrogant, arrogant. I don't know. But trust me, he knows where he wants to go. he was so mature at that age already when he played his first World Cup 19 years old you could say the way he's talking to media and confident really confident it's not about arrogance I would say it's just he had so much confidence on himself and he's a role model he's the captain of the team now and I hope he will lead the team to the third star They have some forward talent, though, this current French.

19:14There's nothing to say. You have Olize. The other day we were watching that game in the stand because it was in Lille. Yeah. So Olize, Cherky, Dembele, Mbappé, Douay, Turam, Mateta, Barcola. Yeah. There is no Aiketike. No. So Deschamps got everything, okay? so he's got so much option up front. We've got the best talent as strikers. Let me take you back to what you said about Arsene Wenger. When he said that, did that surprise you given Wenger's reputation for pure football and the football that he played? Yeah, in a sense, yes. It surprised me because we used to play nice football, you know, enjoyable to watch.

20:06But sometimes, you know, he had to talk like that. Not only to me, it was not, he talked to the team when he said that. Because this is the things sometimes that we don't see, we don't notice. And, you know, for example, for striker, the free run I will do to make space for my teammate behind. I will go first post to free the space, back pass. the midfielders who are running for the strikers to compensate all the time. So, you know, this kind of stuff, it's part of the mentality and do the things right to help the team, you know. And he probably said that in a moment that we were maybe not having the result we wanted and maybe we were not doing so well.

20:59He said, like, carry on to do the things that you think it's nothing. It doesn't help, but it's key for the team. Did you sense in that period, as you say, it was quite a frustrating period for Arsenal at the time. Not that you didn't win anything, but it was frustrating. Did you sense he was frustrated at that time? Maybe, maybe yes, because we had a great team. We played an amazing football, but at the end, you know, It was too hard to win the Premier League. This is my only regret in my career, not to have won it. We were close in 2016 when Leicester won it. Could have been the year, but Leicester was flying.

21:43It reminds me when I played with Montpellier, you know. It was so unexpected and even more enjoyable. Well, they deserved to win on that year, but we collapsed a little bit in March. Tottenham too. But yeah, the other years, you know, you played Man United, City, they were too strong, you know, and we were not consistent enough. So I think, yeah, we were all frustrated. That's why I was so proud, so happy for them. Like I've been to see them in the Champions League final. And no matter if obviously I wanted them to win because, you know, I spent five and a half years at Arsenal. So French people will understand.

22:26but I was so happy for them that they made it 22 years after the Invincibles. They won that Premier League again. It was a long wait, but it's well deserved. And for a former teammate of yours, Mikhail Arteta. Yeah, Mikhail Arteta is doing an amazing job. So, you know, happy for him as a friend. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's such a hard worker, I think. I never had him as a manager, but I can watch him. Because the standard question is, could you see that that's what he would... Yeah. Yes. He had this. You know, he was captain. He was the link between Arsène and the players. He was very professional tactically.

23:19He tried to never let something in doubt. like he wanted to be precise, like very demanding with himself and the others. And if you, for example, you don't do the recover, you don't do the run, you know, to get the ball back, he will scream to you. And yeah, as a leader, he was a leader in the team. And then he left. But yeah, I remember him as a strong character. And you can still see that now, can't you? Yes, for sure. You can see. And also, you know, always really focused, you know, really. He's living the game with passion. He's doing the recovery runs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was so funny to see him and Luis Enrique at the final.

24:12Similar managers for me. When you left Arsenal to go to Chelsea, how long did you spend thinking about that? because that's a big move, that, isn't it? Yeah, but the thing is, back in the days, Arsene wanted to play a different type of striker up front and he was really honest with me. And I owe him for that. I owe him a lot because first he brought me from France and made my childhood dream come true. This is one thing. But the other thing is when I didn't have enough game time, He said, look, Oli, for who you are and what you've done for the club, you will go where you want to go. And at the end, you know, it happened on the last day of, you know, the 30th of January 2018.

25:05We had that Zoom call with Marina Granovskaia. I made it happen, you know, because things were not going really fast. and I needed to leave the club, unfortunately, to play the World Cup in a starting 11. Deschamps was like, keep remembering me every single international break. Oli, Oli, you need to play, you need to play, you don't play enough, otherwise you're in danger for the World Cup. And then we know the rest of the story. So yeah, I feel blessed because I met, I worked with people who really helped me to become a better player and also to understand, you know, I share some great human moments and Arsene is part of, you know, part of them.

25:55Because that honesty, as I understand it from talking to a lot of different people in football over the years, not everybody is as honest as that or looks at the human side of things. So there are some managers who will just view you as a commodity, won't they, rather than a human being. So I had managers who are very good, okay, tactically, they make their team playing well. But human-wise, you know, management, communication, like being close to your players, zero. I won't tell you who, but, you know, sometimes it's like that. And then after you meet people who care about, like, want that to have that relationship, like to be close to their players.

26:49And I love it. And every single player love it because it's really important for their confidence. And then you want to give him back on the pitch because you appreciate that relationship. And Arsene was part of them. He was a nice person, but he was not yelling at you or screaming. I've seen him two, three times like, OK, if you were not in the game or you didn't have a good game, the game after, you know that you will sit on the bench. So he is quite fair. When you look at fellow strikers now, and we're in an age where sometimes 25, 30 goals a season is not enough now. We're talking 40, 45, 50.

27:40When you look at Kane and Haaland in particular, even though this is your position and your craft and you've scored the goals you have and you're a record goal scorer for France, do you marvel at what they do? Because their numbers are phenomenal. Yeah, I'm impressed. I'm impressed because to do it every single year, it's amazing. Okay, you have your teammates around you, but you have to be special to do that every single year. So I have a lot of respect for them and not a lot of strikers can do that. So I know what it meant to do it in several years with consistency is amazing. Do you think, just turning it back to World Cup to finish, do you think there is sentimentality in sport and that France would like to give Deschamps the send-off he deserves.

28:36Do you think that will play a part in their thinking? Yeah, I hope so. If I was there in the US playing for Deschamps, his last competition, for what he achieved, he's done for the national team during these 14 years in a row. I think nobody has done that before. Yeah, he deserves to exit by the big door. and it's always hard you know I don't remember if it was Jordan or a big athlete he said you cannot really choose the end you never know you don't control everything plus when you are a player not manager but when you are a player you are always of course at the end towards the end of your career you are not on the peak of your form.

29:31So it's normal, it's time to go down. But Deschamps, he's done two World Cup finals. He won one, Euros Cup final. He's got amazing records. So he deserves to finish well. I mean, nobody did that before, win two World Cups as a manager and one as a player. So he would be the only one. I wish him really to success, Are they the favourites for you? Yeah, they do. They can't hide. We are number one at the FIFA table and we have an amazing team. They have to deal with that. They have to assume that position. But with humility, you know, because anything can happen in football. One more time, yeah, I think the players, they know that.

30:23They want him to finish well. so it will be a plus motivation, you know. And Zidane to take over. And Zidane is probably coming. I don't know if he's signed yet, but it's not, I think, a secret anymore. He's been waiting for that job since a long time. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to see also what he can bring to the national team, his experience and, you know, his aura and Zidane so the best French player all time for me so yeah it should be a no-no to play for him you know so it will be interesting best French player of all time but not their all-time leading goals no not really for a few days it's a good place to finish isn't it thank you very much for joining us thank you for having me that's it don't forget the Football Daily is from LA every single morning on the next one they'll look ahead to England's first group match against Croatia and we'll have full commentary of that on Five Live just search World Cup on BBC Sound or ask your smart speaker to play Five Live

31:52Offerhead kick! That is sensational! He serves to the centre! Donald to it! Oh, the right hand and the former champion is down! It's extraordinary stuff! They've got all the show for us tonight! He gets on his knees and kisses the turf. Five Live Sports. The home of the world's greatest sporting events. This is the full-time widow! Listen on BBC Sounds.

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