Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud unconcerned by France boo boys
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud insists he will take criticism in his stride after being jeered by France fans during Monday’s friendly against Serbia.
The 28-year-old started for France in their 2-1 victory and was taken off after 62 minutes by manager Didier Deschamps at Bordeaux.
Giroud missed a number of scoring opportunities and was greeted with boos from the crowd, but the former Montpellier player is confident he will get the goals again.
“As a striker, what you got used to on a daily basis, it is to be applauded when you score goals. When the opposite happens, it’s difficult. Everybody gets criticised one day,” Giroud said.
“That’s not the first and surely not the last time it happens. I have the mental strength to bounce back. Now I am going to focus on working. I am everything but worried about that. I will bounce back.
“I miss some efficiency. It is like it is. I cannot focus too much on it. I have to think about the victory of the team and the good form we currently are experiencing. We did well against Portugal and it is great to confirm with a second victory for the confidence.
“Everything was not perfect but we played well especially during the first half. I am going first to enjoy our victory and then obviously I will have to correct a few things.”
Deschamps may have removed the Arsenal star early in the second half but he was swift to defend the efforts of his striker.
The French boss said: “He got unlucky on a few chances because the goalkeeper made a great save and he got three clear opportunities. He also helped during the game.
“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. In his role he made a lot of effort. I always leave a lot of freedom to the three attacking players so he also had to counterbalance.
“Obviously he knows about his performance. He’s the first to be sad about his lack of efficiency. But it happens sometimes. If it’s not Olivier, it might be Karim Benzema. The performance of the entire team remains of a great level.”
