To the sorrow of Thierry Henry, or perhaps rather to his joy, the list of records of the French team was updated again at the World Cup in Qatar.
At the beginning of the tournament, the former striker was the top scorer and king of assists for the world champions of all time, but now - just before the semi-final against Morocco - he dropped to second place on both lists.
In terms of goals, he lost the first place to Olivier Giroud, who scored four goals in the tournament and now stands at 53, while in the brewers it was Antoine Griezmann who surpassed him and now stands at 27. Until recently, it was assumed that Griezmann would actually be the top scorer - he is ranked third At 42, he is only 31 years old and he scored his first in 2014, but recently something has changed: he is less scoring, and more concerned that others do it.
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Kylian Mbappe is mighty and wonderful, Giroud is great and a conqueror, but most of the praise is showered by the French on Griezmann.
It is not only the ability and goals - three of them so far, including two in the quarter-finals against England - but also the spirit, the attitude, the leadership, and the way in which he acclimatized in a new position, that made him the symbol of success.
"I'm here to do what the coach tells me," he sneered at the last press conference, "I'm proud of this shirt and I want the coach to be equally proud of me. My goal is to help my friends, and I feel that I arrived here in good shape and with a clear head."
"doesn't break your head"
Due to the circumstances, the striker underwent a transformation.
Angolo Kante, Blaise Matwidi and Paul Pogba, who made up the link trio in Russia, are not here - each for their own reasons.
Karim Benzema was also absent, and Didier Deschamps had to reorganize the center of the pitch.
So Orléan Tshumani was chosen as the ax in midfield, Adrien Rabiot took the more creative position in the middle, and one place remained for a midfielder who does everything - as Pogba did in Russia.
The coach had many options, but he chose Griezmann for the task.
Dashen.
Made the right decision so far, photo: Reuters
Although most of his career was an attacking player - sometimes a lone striker and sometimes the player behind the striker - the coach of the French national team believed that Griezmann could be his number 6.
He told him this already two weeks ago in one of the training camps, and now he is implementing.
"I don't break my head trying to think how I score goals," said the star, "the team needs me at the heart of things. I connect the link with the attack, go back and try to help others."
For Griezmann, the team is above all.
Apart from the difficulties he has experienced in recent years with his teams Atlético Madrid and Barcelona, when he wears the national uniform everything flows smoothly.
Against England, he completed 73 consecutive games with the national team, and this is due both to his ability and to the fact that he is able to play any role that is required of him.
"He has game vision, work ethic, ball control, energy and intelligence," explained Deschamps, who starts the lineup with the striker-midfielder and then builds around him.
To a large extent this is a bet by the French coach, but he has already made it clear that he is ready to follow his player for every fight and every match.
France knows they have many tools that can bring them a second trophy in a row - especially Mbappe, Giroud and Dembele;
But she also knows that she has the most suitable person to take care of these tools - Antoine Griezmann.
Winner ratio for a France win 1.50, a draw 3.70 and a Morocco win 6.60
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