\n<\/p>\n
As well as being so confident, Kylian is selfish too – but that is not a criticism. The striker is always the most selfish player on the team – he has to be.<\/p>\n
He showed that with his very first World Cup goal, against Peru in Yekaterinburg in our second group game at Russia 2018.<\/p>\n
I had not started our first game, against Australia, because I’d been injured in a friendly against USA a week earlier and needed nine stitches in my forehead. It was a bad cut and I nearly missed the whole tournament.<\/p>\n
Also, Didier Deschamps wanted to try Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann and Mbappe up front but it did not really work. He made some subs and I came on to make our winner for Paul Pogba with a deflected goal.<\/p>\n
That meant Deschamps picked me against Peru, and I was desperate to score this time. Paul put me through and while my shot was blocked, it looped up over the keeper and was bouncing in… but then Kylian is there on the line to turn it in.<\/p>\n
Afterwards I was asked if I was unhappy at him for ‘stealing’ my goal but my response then was the same as it is now – absolutely not. I would have done exactly the same – every striker would.<\/p>\n
Eight years later, after scoring twice against Senegal on Tuesday, Kylian has 14 World Cup goals, only two behind Miroslav Klose and Lionel Messi with the most of any player in the history of the tournament.<\/p>\n
At 27, he has got at least one more World Cup in him, so he is going to beat that record too – or at least he will if Messi ever stops playing!<\/p>\n
I hope Kylian breaks all the records in front of him, and he has time to do it – his next one for France is for most caps (he has 99, and Hugo Lloris has the most with 145) because he is a special player, and he deserves it.<\/p>\n
When I think back to when I played with him, I smile. We shared some great moments together for France since 2017 when he first arrived on the national team.<\/p>\n
We had a great understanding and our games complemented each other – his pace is devastating in a one-on-one but you always need support up front to play a one-two. I was the target man and we knew each other’s qualities.<\/p>\n
Now in this France team you can see the connection he has with Michael Olise, especially for our first goal against Senegal. There is much more of that to come from him in the next few weeks, and I can’t wait to see it.<\/p>\n
Olivier Giroud was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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