Deschamps sticks with injured Giroud

FRANCE coach Didier Deschamps spent part of his first day in Russia defending Olivier Giroud as the Chelsea forward battles to stave off stiff competition for places ahead of Les Bleus’ World Cup opener against Australia.

Giroud recently scored his 31st international goal, equalling the tally in a France shirt of Zinedine Zidane, but Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele has also staked his claim for a starting berth in attack with his form in the pre-tournament friendly matches.

“Don’t take any of Olivier’s quality away from him. He scores a lot of goals, and regardless of whether they are beautiful or not, they are still goals.

“He is a finisher, a goal-scorer with a different profile,” Deschamps insisted at France’s base in Istra, near Moscow.

“His head is fine. He has had six stitches, so as a precaution we need to make sure he doesn’t touch the ball with his head.”

Giroud should be fine for France’s opening Group C clash with Australia in Kazan on Saturday. – AFP