Scorer turns provider as Griezmann shines in France’s midfield

Here’s your name-dropping check-list for December 14 France vs Morocco semi-final

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Back in 2018, Antoine Griezmann had told reporters about how he feels after scoring a goal. “Whenever I score a goal, I go back to being a child,” the France forward had said in a press conference. On Wednesday night, the 31-year-old did not score, but there was a child-like enthusiasm in the way he played.

Griezmann linked up with the forwards, assisted build-ups towards the Moroccan goal, won midfield-battles and tracked back to help his defence as France overcame the gritty African trailblazers 2-0 to reach the final of the World Cup, where they will face Argentina on Sunday.

Griezmann, who is being played as a midfielder by coach Didier Deschamps in the World Cup, would first play a role in France’s first goal scored by Theo Hernandez before contributing to key moments in the game as well as being roughed out passes by the Moroccan players, who were constantly on his back.

Griezmann would praise the Moroccans post the match. “Morocco impressed me tonight. They set up very well tactically, offensively. They caused problems for us.” Griezmann said post the match.

Born in 1991 with his father hailing from France and mother of Portuguese-French origin, a young Griezmann grew up in Macon, a region famous for Burgundian wine in France. As a child, the diminutive Griezmann was rejected by French clubs like Olympique Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Auxerre before Spanish club Real Sociedad’s scout Eric Olhats saw a 13-year-old Griezmann playing in a youth tournament in Paris. “He did not stand out above everyone else. He played for ten minutes as he came off the bench because he was, physically, completely overwhelmed by other players. But that technique, that flow and that ease in play caught my eye,” Olhats once told website LaInformacion.com in an interview.

With the French law requiring young players to attend school in their home country, Griezmann continued his studies in the French town of Bayonne, a city closer to the Spanish border and playing for the junior teams of Real Sociedad in Spain starting 2005. The France youngster would stay for more than six years at Olhats’s home in Bayonne. “I became his father, mother, his grandma and his best friend,” Olhats recalled in the interview.

Griezmann played for the Spanish club for more than nine years before he joined Atletico Madrid. The early Spanish influence in his life does show in Griezmann’s daily life and he talked about this in an interview with La Parisien, a French newspaper. “Every training session was at the intensity of a match. In daily life, I feel Spanish more than French. I eat at 3 pm, I talk to my dog in Spanish,” Griezmann told La Parisien.

After signing with Atletico Madrid in 2014, the French striker played for the Spanish Club for five years before he was signed by FC Barcelone for a then record fee of 108 million pounds in 2019. The two years at Barcelona saw him scoring 35 goals in 102 games before he returned to Atletico Madrid last year on loan. With coach Diego Simone not starting Griezmann for major part of last year and playing him for less than 30 minutes per match to avoid Atletico Madrid paying a sum of 40 million euros if Griezmann played for more than 45 minutes on average during the loan period, a part of the loan clause, the French striker would feel disappointed.

He though surpassed Paco Campos’s tally of 146 goals to become the club’s third highest scorer for the club. The forward also talked about lack of game time for his club last year. “I am feeling physically very well in my legs. Pre-season did a lot of good for me, I needed that. I had a big empty spell last season where I wasn’t doing well mentally. Now I am doing a lot better and I am giving it my all,” he told Canal+ earlier.

Griezmann made his debut for France in 2014 and since then he has played in 113 matches for France prior to the World Cup in Qatar including 72 consecutive matches for France. The striker, who was the player for the tournament and Golden Boot winner in Euro 2016 and man of the match in the 2018 World Cup Final claiming the bronze ball, has a total of ten goals in Euro 2016 and 2018 World Cup and is placed third on France’s all time scorer lost with a total of 42 goals.

With Deschamps deciding to play Griezmann in midfield, the striker was open to the idea. “I am not wracking my brains figuring out how to score, the team needs me more at the heart of the game. I enjoy being the link between midfield and attack. I’m more in a role where I drop deep and try to help others. I am here to do what the coach asks me. I want to be proud of the jersey and make the coach proud. I want to make things as easy as possible for my teammates. I’m in very good shape physically, and when that happens I feel better in my mind,” Griezmann had said earlier in the tournament.

While his goal against Tunisia was disallowed by VAR, the 31-year-old now leads the tournament in terms of assists with a total of four, ahead of Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes and England’s Harry Kane. Prior to the semi-final, he also led in terms of key passes with a total of 17 key passes, six great chances and most crosses with 34 crosses, according to website Livescore.com. Wednesday’s assist also saw him extend his all-time assists to 29, highest for France followed by 27 assists by Thierry Henry and 26 by Zinedine Zidane.

Back in the late 2000’s as a ball boy at Real Sociedad Stadium, Griezmann had once asked France legend Zinedine Zidane for his shirt but had got shorts. “He had already swapped with a rival, but I was so disappointed that he gave me some shorts,” Griezmann had written in his biography, Behind the Smile.

Come December 18, and with France facing Argentina with a hope become the first team since Brazil to lift back-to-back World titles, there will be many in the crowd wanting Griezmann’s t-shirt if he guides the Les Blues to the world title.