'He Was Upset' – Giroud On Feud With Mbappe
14 October, 2021
France international Olivier Giroud has commented on the spat he and Kylian Mbappe had heading into the 2020 UEFA European Championship.
Before the 2018 FIFA World Cup champions kicked off their Euro 2020 campaign in June, the two Les Bleus forwards were involved in an off-field incident that threatened to hurt France's chances of winning the tournament.
Following a warm-up game, Mbappe took offence to remarks made by Giroud, in which the former Arsenal striker seemed to point out that he was not being given the ball enough by his teammates.
The Paris Saint-Germain No. 7 felt that the comments were a direct attack at him, and reportedly became so infuriated that he wanted to host a press conference to address Giroud's post-match statements.
The AC Milan forward, however, has since played down the intensity of the incident, but did admit that Mbappe was annoyed with him for a few days.
"That was such a small thing," Giroud told The Guardian.
"He was a bit upset for a couple of days, even though I explained to him that I wasn't pointing the finger at him. I hadn't meant to be harsh on anyone.
"I had just answered a question where a journalist said to me after the game: 'Oh, you were very discreet but you scored two goals.'
"It's always like they're trying to piss me off. I just replied: 'Yeah, maybe we could have found each other in a different way.' That's it.
"The media tried to make it bigger and say that ruined the atmosphere among the team. But come on! We had a conversation between adults and it wasn't a problem."
France were knocked out of Euro 2020 at the round of 16 stage following a penalty shootout loss to Switzerland after a 3-3 draw in extra-time.
It was, coincidentally, Mbappe's effort from 12 yards that failed to find the back of the net, costing Didier Deschamps' side a place in the quarter-finals.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za