Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: ANDREA AMATO / LIVEMEDIA / DPPI VIA AFP
At 37 years old, Olivier Giroud never ceases to surprise. On October 7, the top scorer of the French team (54 goals) became, for a few minutes, the heroic goalkeeper of AC Milan. While his team had just opened the scoring against Genoa, Mike Maignan, the number 1 goalkeeper of the Blues, saw red after a poorly controlled outing. We then play the 98th minute and unfortunately for the Milanese, coach Stefano Pioli has made all his changes. And as required by the regulations, a field player must therefore wear gloves. Olivier Giroud then takes on this responsibility, but the Frenchman certainly did not expect to experience such an end to the match.
Exceptional guest of the show The studio of legends, the 2018 world champion at the microphone of Jacques Vendroux, on this meeting which made him a happy goalkeeper.
“A different feeling than scoring a goal”
Genoa-AC Milan, a match which will remain as one of the happiest days of his career? “It’s true. At 37 years old, with everything I’ve been through in my career, to experience this kind of unique thing for me is still incredible, because I’ve never found myself in this situation. And it was a feeling different than scoring a goal. It was just as enjoyable, a lot of pride and adrenaline,” admits the top scorer of the France team. The story could end there, but no, Olivier Giroud always wants more.
In the last seconds of the match, Genoa had a golden opportunity to equalize, but the new AC Milan goalkeeper decided otherwise. Despite the danger, the Frenchman was not afraid to come out of his cage to come between the feet of a Genoa attacker. Even if it was not the most elegant, Olivier Giroud produced a decisive save, offering victory to the Milanese. “My heart was beating at 200 miles an hour to have saved a little, in quotes, to have made this outing which was a bit of a kamikaze, if I may say so, and which was not very academic (laughing) “, quips Olivier Giroud at Jacques Vendroux’s microphone.
“You feel vulnerable”
But then, how did Milan’s top scorer of the season end up in goal? “There are two of us applying. There is Christian Pulisic who also likes to go for goal. But hey, Christian is 1m75, so at some point, I don’t want to say that he wouldn’t have done well in the cage, but it’s true that it’s better to put on a big one. So well, the guys from the staff told me: Olive, go ahead, put on the gloves”, says the Frenchman, specifying that his teammate smaller size didn’t hold it against him.
On the other hand, once in goal, Olivier Giroud experienced new sensations. “I felt very small in the cage at the time of the free kick at the edge of the area. You feel vulnerable. And the gloves were a little big because Mike (Maignan) has bigger hands than me,” quips the 2018 world champion. A moment he will remember for a long time. And for that, the Milanese club offered him a frame with the photo, the match plaque and the date. “It’s nice, it’s going to stay,” he concludes.