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PARIS : Antoine Griezmann’s silky passing and tactical awareness will once again be among France’s main weapons as Les Bleus target a third European title, the first under Didier Deschamps.
The midfielder has been in all of Deschamps’s campaigns as France coach and he featured in a record 84 consecutive matches with the national team, a series that ended only last March because of injury.
The Atletico Madrid player, however, is ready to be Deschamps’s talisman after a sterling start to the LaLiga season earned him the best French player in a foreign league award.
He struggled after the winter break but signalled his return to top form in mid-May with a hat-trick against Getafe that sealed his club’s qualification for the Champions League next season.
He scored 16 league goals with Atletico this season for his highest goal-per-game ratio since 2018.
It might be Griezmann’s swansong, after more than a decade during which he took France to the Euro 2016 final, was the competition’s top scorer, and was named man of the match in the 2018 World Cup final, which they won.
A link between the midfield and the front line on the pitch, Griezmann, 33, has also created a great atmosphere within the squad, bridging the young generation with the team leaders.
“He’s the type of player who can really change a team because he’s so hard working and so technically gifted,” said Deschamps of the player he often discusses tactics with.
“Of course, his main responsibility isn’t ball winning; his left foot is so wonderful, he creates great chances for others. He’s someone who always thinks of the good of the team above everything else. He’s extremely hard working, probably more so than most players.”
Griezmann’s coach at Atletico, Diego Simeone, also hails the midfielder as a rare gem.
“He’s an important player in a side that needs to be champions -– both with France and Atletico,” he said.
“He knows exactly when to choose decisive moments. When he’s sharp and physically in form, there’s nobody in the world who can understand and interpret football like him.”
With a goal scoring machine like Kylian Mbappe on the front line, Griezmann knows his talent will not go wasted, and he is likely to improve his assists national record with France when they face Poland, the Netherlands and Austria in Group D at the Euros.
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