Almost every footballer will have an arrogance about them, but at the very least they need an unshakeable belief in their ability to make it to the highest level.
That belief or arrogance can occasionally lead to comments or moments of trash-talk that can get out of hand, and the situation between Olivier Giroud and Karim Benzema is the perfect example.
Benzema has been out of the France squad for a while due to an ongoing legal situation, while Giroud has been pretty central to their system regardless of how he was getting on at club level
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Benzema was understandably furious that he felt a lesser player was taking his role in the team, and it led to the infamous comment where he compared himself to an F1 car and Giroud to a go-kart.
Benzema has received a shock recall to the French squad for the Euros so there was always going to be the question about his relationship with Giroud, while there may have been fears that a repeat of 2010 could happen as the squad implodes at a major tournament.
It actually sounds like Giroud wasn’t against the recall at all, and he might even have been one of those pushing for Benzema’s return:
?Olivier Giroud ne s’est pas opposé au retour de Karim Benzema. Au contraire.
Les choix de DD ont toujours été guidés par l’harmonie de son groupe.
Persuadé que Benzema va retrouver naturellement sa place dans le collectif bleu.
Place au jeu ?? ?? #ListeDesBleus— Saber Desfarges (@SaberDesfa) May 18, 2021
It’s unlikely that they’ll suddenly become best buddies, but when there’s a major international tournament to be won then it’s much easier to put those feelings aside for the good of the team.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t the potential for all of this to blow up if they don’t perform well, so it should be a fun one to watch either way.