Who knows, maybe they weren’t booing. Maybe they were saying Girooooouuuuuddddd. Though, considering Olivier Giroud‘s form for club and country of late, that seems quite unlikely.
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Yes, that’s right, Giroud was widely booed by his own fans during France’s 2-1 friendly victory over Serbia on Monday. Giroud, who took six shots, put just one on target and failed to find the back of the net Monday, has scored just once in four games for Arsenal this season and has now seen his France scoring record slip to two goals in his last 11 international appearances.
With Karim Benzema returning to full fitness and Anthony Martial‘s profile quickly rising following his recent transfer to Manchester United, Giroud’s the furthest thing from a lock to make France’s roster for next summer’s European Championship which is to be held on French soil, let alone start for Les Bleus.
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Paris Saint-Germain’s Blaise Matuidi scored an early brace (9th and 25th minutes) to give France a comfortable lead before Newcastle United’s Aleksander Mitrovic pulled one back six minutes before halftime. Littered throughout his 62-minute shift were Giroud’s six chances — many of which were high in quality — not taken, which caused the fans inside Stade Bordeaux-Atlantique to boo the 28-year-old striker as his time on the field wound down.
French national team boss Didier Deschamps did not sugarcoat his assessment of Giroud’s performance following the game: “He got unlucky on a few chances because the goalkeeper made a great save. He got three clear opportunities,” he said. “One was not on target, a header close from the goal-frame. Obviously if he had been more efficient the score would have been much higher.”
