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Olivier Giroud claims he will not retire like Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane.
France’s record goalscorer, Olivier Giroud, insists he will not be following Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane into international retirement.
The experienced forward, who has a record-breaking total of 56 goals in 120 games for his country, is now 36 years old.
Giroud is, however, still going strong at club level with Serie A giants AC Milan and believes he has plenty to offer Les Bleus on the back of a gut-wrenching defeat to Argentina in the final of the 2022 World Cup.
Giroud has told France 2 when asked if he plans on ruling himself out of contention for future call-ups from national team coach Didier Deschamps: “No, no, it’s not over. Emotions, I hope there will still be some to come.
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I’m not ready to hang up [my boots], to take off this blue jersey which is close to my heart. I have the motivation to continue and the physique too, I feel good. For the moment I am still selectable and a player of the France team.”
At the World Cup finals in Qatar, Giroud passed the iconic Thierry Henry to become France’s top scorer, and since then, players like Benzema, Varane, and the victorious 2018 captain Hugo Lloris have retired from international competition.
With Giroud intending to play on, he will hope to figure prominently for France when they get their Euro 2024 qualification underway against the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland in March.