DESCHAMPS: GRIEZMANN’S AN ALL-TIME GREAT
DIDIER DESCHAMPS has hailed the influence of ‘game-changer’ antoine Griezmann as the Barcelona forward prepares to make a remarkable 50th consecutive appearance for France.
Griezmann has started every one of the team’s 35 competitive matches across four full seasons and has not missed a competitive international since making his debut in march 2014.
ahead of today’s game against hungary in Budapest, his manager agreed it is an incredible record of consistency and reliability.
‘he’s a professional and he has managed to avoid the different injuries he could have had,’ said Deschamps. ‘he may not be 20 years old any more but he takes very good care of himself. The statistics speak for themselves.
‘You can see the influence he has on the team through his goals and assists. if we then add his capacity to change the game and to get stuck in when we need to defend and don’t have the ball, he is one of the greatest players of all time both in Europe and worldwide.’
Griezmann’s run of consecutive games is a French record. The 30-year-old also has 92 caps and 37 goals for his country — including six at Euro 2016 to propel them to the final.
‘he is one of our technical leaders,’ said Deschamps. ‘he is a game-changer, an offensive, very creative player with this ability to think outside the box. ‘That’s something he has proven to us time and time again. it is remarkable to watch even though he’s happy to get back and defend. maybe he does that a little bit too much. ‘i’m not going to take this away from him. it is completely natural for him and important to our balance. This doesn’t prevent him from being a huge player and from having a huge presence on the pitch.’ hungary midfielder Loic Nego, Paris-born and a former France youth international who came through the age groups with Griezmann (left), is looking forward to locking horns with his friend in front of a crowd of 61,000 in Budapest’s Puskas arena today.
‘We have not had much time to talk over the past few days but it is true that we have great memories together,’ said Nego. ‘it
will be sentimental but i am completely focused on what i have to do with hungary.
‘Even if most of my family is in France, this is where i am. This is where i live and this is a team i will be fighting for.’
France started Euro 2020 with an impressive 1-0 win against Germany in munich but captain hugo Lloris sounded a note of caution. ‘We shouldn’t be too positive,’ said a typically sanguine Lloris. ‘it is only the first game and lots of challenges await us, starting here. But it is important to have started with a great collective performance, to put on a good show of solidarity and solidity.
‘We want to be dangerous. We want to be ruthless. if we can score, we want to score. We will have more possession against hungary and it is up to us to manage that. But the will to win is a strength of our team. We want to win and we want to win together.’
Deschamps has confirmed that Benjamin Pavard, who suffered a blow to the head during Tuesday’s game against Germany, is available to play.