Do you like it when people say you’re
underrated, or is it frustrating to not
be rated as highly as you should be?
Edward Slater, via Instagram
I think that’s the story of my life. I’ve
always had to face difficulties, bounce
back and overcome tough moments.
But I believe it’s a good sign if you’re
better than people rate you to be. It’s
always nice to prove them wrong, even
if I do also have my supporters.
It’s the same with the national team,
when people were always trying to pit
me and Karim Benzema against each
other. It’s frustrating, because it has
basically been a media thing. I never
had a problem with Karim and enjoyed
playing next to him – we were together
for the national team since 2011, even
if he wasn’t there later. The media just
tried to pit us against each other all the
time. [FFT: So it didn’t annoy you when
Benzema labelled you a “go-kart” and
himself an “F1 car” in 2020?] That was
funny! I took it in a good way. It was
on some live social media show when
someone asked him about me, and he
had to make a joke like that. There is
no resentment at all.
How does it feel to have outscored
Michel Platini for France?
Will you break Thierry
Henry’s goal record?
@spursdab, via Twitter
Obviously I’m very
proud, because
Michel Platini
won three
Ballons d’Or
and, alongside
Zinedine Zidane,
with our national team. If you’d told
me 15 or 20 years ago that I’d become
the second-highest scorer in France’s
history, I wouldn’t have believed it. It
just goes to show that you can achieve
anything with the right determination,
strength and character.
As for Thierry Henry’s record, I don’t
know. I’m just enjoying playing for my
new club, Milan. I’ve never asked for
anything – even at Chelsea with Frank
Lampard, I waited for my opportunity
to play. It’ll be exactly the same with
the national team. I’ll try
my best to be competitive.
It’s not really something
that upsets me, so I’m not
200 per cent focused
on breaking Henry’s
record. I’m already
more than happy with
everything I’ve done.
[FFT: You’ve said before
that the national team
has been something of
a sanctuary compared
to club level...] I like thatword ‘sanctuary’. But yes, sometimes
I was facing tough times at Arsenal
and Chelsea, so being able to go away
and score goals for France was always
great. I could have some fresh time, to
help me bounce back, and go back to
my club pumped up after the break.How did it feel to be booed by France
fans in May 2016 during a friendly
against Cameroon? You even scored!
Zoe Rousseau, Paris
When Benzema wasn’t in the national
team, some people were pro-him and
so they were against me. I just explain
that by the fact that I play in the same
position, but they have to understand
that it wasn’t because of me that hewasn’t in the side. It felt like a bit of an
injustice to me. At first I was slightly
upset, but eventually my friends would
joke about it and I’d take it in a good
way. L’Équipe printed a headline after
the Cameroon game that read ‘Le Mal
Aimé’ – it means the ‘bad loved’, which
is a song by the famous French singer,
Claude François. The next day, the lads
were singing it to me. [Laughs]
Everything went quite well after that,
because we played a great tournament
at Euro 2016 and came close to being
the champions on home soil. You can’t
always make everybody happy, so you
just have to show on the pitch that you
can be competitive.You can forever call yourself a World
Cup winner – what does that mean to
you? Did you always feel confident of
winning the trophy?
John Carter, Sheffield
That’s it... it’s the most important thing.
Becoming a World Cup winner brings
you so much confidence. That was an
amazing tournament in Russia, whereYOU ASK
HIGHS & LOWS
HIGH: 2012
Ligue 1 top scorer as Montpellier
stun PSG to win first ever titleLOW: 2013
Following Robin van Persie proves
tough with run on Gunners benchHIGH: 2014
Sets up two goals in FA Cup final as
Arsenal end 10-year trophy droughtLOW: 2016
Booed by some fans as France face
Cameroon (but still scores anyway)HIGH: 2018
Starts six of seven games as Les
Bleus march to World Cup victoryAbove and right All of
the success Giroud has
enjoyed is jaw-dropping- quite literally, it seems
Below “Hey, don’t worry
about it Karim. Even F
cars stall sometimes...”