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Olivier Giroud has revealed part of the conversation he had with Karim Benzema after the Real Madrid man missed the 2022 World Cup through injury
France’s World Cup star and all-time top scorer Olivier Giroud has revealed what he said to French striker Karim Benzema when the latter had to withdraw from France’s 2022 World Cup squad before the start of the tournament.
Benzema’s injury gave Giroud the chance to shine in Qatar
Giroud was France’s starting centre-forward when they won the 2018 World Cup, but his place came under threat when Benzema was reinstated into the national team fold.
That was until the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, Benzema, succumbed to an injury on the eve of the World Cup’s first match, which forced him to miss the tournament and leave the French training camp prematurely.
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Benzema initially taking Giroud’s place in the team was rumoured to cause a rift between the two strikers, and many outsides were of the opinion that Giroud celebrated the Real Madrid captain’s injury, but the ex-Chelsea forward has now refuted the claims that he did not get along with Benzema.
Giroud had no beef with Benzema
Giroud believes that the whole fiasco was down to the imagination of troublemakers who want to sow discord.
Speaking in an interview with Canal +, Giroud said that people who tried to spread gossip that some players in the French squad were happy that Benzema had to leave the squad were just people “who are trying to search for disputes in a team where there were none.“
Instead of being happy, as the naysayers claim, Giroud has revealed he and his French teammates were disappointed to lose Benzema to injury ahead of the World Cup, and he even told Benzema this in a private conversation.
In a snippet of the interview which is yet to air, Giroud said “I told him we were disappointed. I was disappointed to see him go.”
With Benzema out of the picture, Giroud started six matches for France and scored four goals as they reached the final before losing to Argentina.
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