Veterans: Discussing Griezmann’s Retirement from the National Team is Disrespectful; No One Can Replace Him Currently

The French team concluded their Euro campaign in a disappointing manner. During the tournament, team core Antoine Griezmann failed to find his rhythm and never contributed decisively. He even lost his starting position. However, in the eyes of experts, discussing Griezmann’s retirement from the French team is clearly premature.

In fact, veterans have varying opinions on Griezmann’s future. Former French international Jérôme Rothen, known for his outspokenness, criticized Griezmann for playing too many games at the Euros in a program. However, another former international, Christophe Dugarry, refuted Rothen’s view.

Dugarry retorted passionately, “How can you retire a player who just had a season with 24 goals and 8 assists? Saying Griezmann performed poorly at the Euros, not meeting the standards of the French team, and that he played too many games in Germany? I think this is completely disrespectful. He’s a star of the French team. If we don’t take Griezmann to the game, who should we take?”

Another guest, Éric Di Meco, also agreed with Dugarry’s viewpoint, believing that Deschamps’ indecision regarding Griezmann’s role led to the player’s struggles. Di Meco said, “Everyone agrees that Griezmann didn’t play well at this Euros, and he himself thinks so, but we’re talking about a player who has nearly 150 caps for the national team (actual number is 135). He just had an outstanding season at Atlético Madrid where he could do everything. In this tournament, he indeed performed poorly, but we shouldn’t force a player who delivered such numbers and quality to retire just because of one bad competition. Because in such situations, many would be forced to hang up their boots.”

Di Meco was also convinced that despite being 33, Griezmann could still deliver great games for the French team in the coming months or even years. Di Meco said, “I bet that two years later (at the 2026 World Cup), Griezmann will still be part of the French team.”