Even if the 4-0 loss oagainst Chelsea at the weekend is a game that Djibril Sidibé will want to forget, there was one positive in it, and that will be the fact he will have had a chance to catch up with Olivier Giroud.
The two know each other from their time with the France national team, and were both present in the 2018 World Cup squad that lifted the trophy in Russia.
The Everton defender may have only played one game in the competition, which was the third group game against Denmark that ended in a 0-0 draw as Didier Deschamps preferred Benjamin Pavard in the role, but he still contributed and walked away with a medal.
As for the Chelsea striker, one of the quirks of the tournament was that while he started all but one game in the competition, during which France scored 14 goals, he never found the back of the net himself.
💬 "L’équipe de France n’aurait pas gagné la Coupe du monde sans Olivier Giroud"
🇫🇷🤝 Djibril Sidibé rend hommage à @_OlivierGiroud_ dans #LeVestiaire et estime que même s'il n’a pas marqué durant le mondial 2018, les Bleus n’auraient pas été champions du monde sans lui. pic.twitter.com/2bKpuXOU7a
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) March 9, 2020
However, Sidibé feels the player never got enough recognition for his sacrifice and hard work, as he explained to RMC Sport when invited to Le Vestiaire on Monday night.
He said: “In the dressing room, we were all tightly knit, but it’s true that for Giroud, we were very surprised, as we thought as a striker, he needs to score five, six, seven goals, but in the tactics, he helped us, relieved us.
“I don’t think France would have won the World Cup if he wasn’t in the team with what he brought us, defensively, offensively, in his support, in his competitiveness with Antoine [Griezmann] and Kylian [Mbappé], especially because he has experience, he’s been in the team for a while.
“We know that when you need to get physical, Olivier is there. It allowed Kylian to run, Coman or Dembélé, all these players who have other qualities. We were disappointed [for him], because we know him, but he came out of it with a lot of determination”.
