Giroud: I felt hurt when the French fans booed me because of Benzema, and I wanted to prove myself

October 10th: In an interview, French forward Giroud recalled that he was booed by French fans because of Benzema in 2016.

Before the 2016 European Cup, Benzema was not selected for the French national team. At that time, some French fans believed that Giroud occupied the center position that should belong to Benzema, and therefore booed Giroud during the game. On May 30, 2016, France defeated Cameroon 3-2 in a warm-up match. Giroud scored the second goal after receiving an assist from Pogba. But the French home fans sang the song "Unfavourite", and L'Equipe at the time also said "Giroud, Unfavourite".

Giroud recalled the incident on the RMC program this week: "It made me feel very hurt, but how else can you deal with it? It's impossible to make everyone like you. What happened at the time was unfair, I was hurt, but people didn't realize it. I suffered a lot in the French national team. You should consider it from my perspective. If it were the same for someone else, I just did my job on the court."

Giroud continued: "I went to the national team just to show off my skills. I wanted to prove that I could make a difference on the court. I received the support of coach Deschamps. He defended me many times. He said that he did not understand the unfair treatment I received. He also publicly expressed his support for me many times." In the end, Giroud conquered the fans with his outstanding performance. Giroud became the top scorer in the history of the French national team with 57 goals, and won the 2018 World Cup with the team.