Olivier Giroud should have taken part in the penalty shootout, won by the French team once morest Portugal (0-0 aet, 5-3 pen), Friday July 5. But the French number 9, jersey on and cleats on, did not have time to come into play to participate in the outcome of this quarter-final. Didier Deschamps was caught off guard by the referee, who whistled the end of extra time before he had time to make his last change.
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Euro 2024
It was a hiccup, fortunately, without consequences for the Blues. While he warmed up at length on the sidelines, thinking he might come on, Friday July 5, to participate in the fateful penalty shootout once morest Portugal (0-0 aet, 5-3 pen), Olivier Giroud ultimately did not set foot on the Volksparkstadion playing area. To his great dismay, the top scorer in the history of the French team, who had dressed from head to toe, remained on the bench, alongside Didier Deschamps, trapped by time.
“I mightn’t get Olivier in. The referee didn’t take the request into account. I had this last change to make. Olivier was a candidate to shoot.”recognized the French coach at the microphone of beIN SPORTS.
He was a candidate to shoot
He was a candidate to shoot
Didier Deschamps, coach of the French team
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In place of Olivier Giroud, it was Ousmane Dembélé, Youssouf Fofana, Jules Koundé, Bradley Barcola and Théo Hernandez who took their responsibilities. Faced with Diogo Costa, heroic in this exercise in the previous round once morest Slovenia (0-0 ap, 3-0 pen), the Blues did not tremble. They converted their five attempts, like Koundé and Barcola, who had never taken a penalty or a penalty shootout until then, to send France into the final four.
Yohan ROBLIN