AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud suffered an ankle injury in action for France last night.
Giroud started France’s Euro2024 qualifying win against the Republic of Ireland.
However, the veteran limped off on 25 minutes after being seen clutching his ankle. He suffered the injury earlier, but couldn’t carry on and asked to be substituted.
The 36-year-old removed his boot and was visibly in pain as he left the pitch.
Giroud now risks missing next week’s derby against Inter Milan.
An Olivier Giroud hat-trick helped AC Milan demolish already-relegated Sampdoria 5-1 in the Italian Serie A on Saturday, earning Stefano Pioli’s side a much-needed morale boost.
Rafael Leao put AC Milan ahead in the ninth minute before Sampdoria found an equaliser.
But three goals from Giroud and a Brahim Diaz strike sealed a convincing win for the recently-stumbling AC Milan.
They remain fifth on 64 points and have provisionally cut the gap with fourth-placed Lazio to one point before Maurizio Sarri’s men travel to Udinese on Sunday.
AC Milan were knocked out in the UEFA Champions League earlier this week by Inter Milan in the semi-finals.
That was after falling to a shock 2-0 Serie A loss by lowly Spezia last weekend.
Now, they displayed a confidence they lately lacked.
“It was good to let go of the disappointment suffered with the elimination from the Champions League,” Pioli told reporters.
“We played a good match, scoring many goals. It can only do us good.”
Leao gave AC Milan an early lead at the San Siro when he beat Sampdoria goalkeeper Nicola Ravaglia with a precise low shot into the bottom right corner.
But Sampdoria managed to level shortly after through forward Fabio Quagliarella, who ended his longest run without a goal in Serie A.
This was after he had failed to find the net in his previous 20 games.
AC Milan, however, responded immediately when Giroud ended a six-game goal drought in the league by heading in to restore the lead.
The Frenchman made it 3-1 from the penalty kick spot in the 29th minute after Sampdoria defender Koray Guenter took down Leao inside the box.
AC Milan kept the pressure on after the break as they sought to increase the lead.
Giroud was close to completing a hat-trick but Ravaglia showed great reflexes when he saved his close-range header.
Diaz added a goal to his two assists on the night, helped by a stunning cross by Tonali in the 63rd minute.
Giroud completed his hat-trick soon after.
Bottom-placed Sampdoria are on course to finish bottom of Serie A for the first time in their history.
AC Milan travel to Juventus on May 28 before they end the season with a home game against lowly Hellas Verona the following weekend.
In earlier games, Bologna hammered Cremonese 5-1 to leave the second-bottom side on 24 points and on brink of relegation.
Atalanta came from a goal down to beat Hellas Verona 3-1 and move up one place to sixth, two points ahead of seventh-placed AS Roma.
Premier League side Manchester United are assessing a shock transfer for ex-Arsenal and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud.
The French veteran, who plays for AC Milan, could be a short-term option for Erik ten Hag’s team.
Giroud scored 144 goals in 372 matches in England, winning nine trophies in those ten years.
He has been with Milan since the summer of 2021, with the 36-year-old winning Serie A last term.
Per The Times, Giroud is among the players United are assessing as possible loan options.
The club are not going to sanction a big money transfer in January, as the owners are looking to sell the team.
AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud is struggling to be fit for the World Cup final with France.
According to Tribalfootball, Saturday night’s training session saw Marcus Thuram tested as a centre-forward instead of Giroud, who is struggling with a knee strain.
There is now real concern that Giroud won’t be fit to start against Argentina.
The build-up to the final against Argentina has been dominated by the outbreak of a virus in the camp, but the good news for Les Bleus is that all 24 available players should be available as Ibrahima Konaté, Dayot Upamecano, Raphaël Varane, and Adrien Rabiot are expected to be ok.
Théo Hernandez missed yesterday’s session after a knee knock of his own, but in training Kylian Mbappé was used as a striker with Thuram taking up a position on the left wing and Ousmane Dembele on the right.
French striker Olivier Giroud reached out to Morocco coach Walid Regragui after France’s World Cup semifinal win.
The pair were former teammates at Grenoble.
Giroud said, “I congratulated him and said that he could be proud of his team.
“I told him that I would be happy to discuss all this later, that it would be my pleasure to see him again.
“He is a good person, he deserves all the praise that has been given to him.”
Former Germany international, Mesut Ozil was happy for Olivier Giroud for scoring at the World Cup on Sunday.
Giroud got the first goal in the round of 16, as France defeated Poland 3-1.
“Nice goal… who taught you that bro,” he wrote alongside laughing, sunglasses and fire emojis.
Giroud is now the leading scorer in the history of the French national team, passing Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.
Kylian Mbappe got the two other goals for France in the game, with Robert Lewandowski netting a consolation penalty for Poland.
Olivier Giroud has overtaken Thierry Henry to become France’s all-time top men’s scorer, netting his 52nd for Les Bleus in the World Cup round of 16 game against Poland on Sunday.
The AC Milan striker had tied Henry’s record 51 goals for the national team in France’s 4-1 win against Australia in their opening World Cup Group D match earlier in the tournament.
Giroud, 36, became France’s oldest goalscorer with his header in a 2-0 win over Austria on Sept. 22, which took him to within two goals of the record, while his brace against the Socceroos in Qatar saw him pass Zinedine Zidane as his country’s oldest scorer at a World Cup.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker is now his country’s outright top scorer, followed by Henry, who netted 51 times from 123 caps between 1997 and 2010. Antoine Griezmann has 42 goals, Michel Platini has 41 and Karim Benzema has 37.
Giroud made his France debut aged 25 in 2011 when he came off the bench in a friendly win against the United States and scored his first international goal against Germany a year later.
He has since scored 51 goals in 117 appearances for the national team and helped Didier Deschamps’ side win the World Cup in 2018, although he did not score in the finals.
His presence in France’s squad, which had been in doubt ahead of the World Cup, wound up being very fortuitous for Deschamps after Benzema was ruled out before their first game due to injury.
Giroud has enjoyed a glittering career at club and international level, winning Ligue 1, Serie A, the Champions League, the Europa League, and four FA Cup titles across spells with Montpellier, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Milan.
Chelsea defender Thiago Silva is wary facing AC Milan’s attacking players for tonight’s Champions League encounter.
Thiago Silva expects to be tested by the likes of Rafael Leao and former Blues teammate Olivier Giroud.
He said: “The forward line of AC Milan is very impressive, and the way they perform means tomorrow it is going to be a very difficult match. It will be difficult for us to defend. For sure, with Leao, we’ll have to be very focused and make sure he can’t get the ball. If those players give him the ball, they will be dangerous because if he gets the ball, they can score, and it’s not only him because Giroud is in the box.
“So it is a challenge and difficult forward line. It’s not going to be easy, but that is why we have to be focused. Theo is a very good player, one of the best in the side right. He is also very good at defending. We have to be careful of the whole squad because a good team is not only one, two, three good players.
“It’s the whole squad who work well, so we have to be focused on all of them.”
AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud has no doubts he made the right choice moving to Italy.
Giroud left Chelsea last summer.
He said, “Coming into contact with the others was easy for me as I knew a bit of Italian thanks to my grandmother’s origins. I knew a few words and this is important.
“My integration was also helped by the fact that there are several players who speak French, I found guys I knew and in the end what the coach asks of me on the pitch is not too complicated for me, because I know what he expects from me and what I have to do.
“It’s more about adapting to the referees who have a tendency to whistle for lighter contacts than they do in the Premier League.”
Giroud also told Colinterview about joining Milan.
“I clearly accepted immediately, for me it was a test. I spoke with the manager Massara and Maldini and I immediately realised that they were looking for me and with the speech they gave me I was immediately convinced. I want to win and return to the top in Italy.
AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud was happy to score in victory over Roma last night.
Giroud opened the scoring from the spot as Milan went onto win 3-1.
The Frenchman later said: “I don’t believe in the curse of the number 9 shirt, but sometimes I thought about it after the physical problems I have had (smiles).
“Now I’m fine, I feel good with the team. We lost a few points in the last period, so it was important to start the year well.
“I’m happy for the goal, I was a bit unlucky on the second goals, but then (Junior) Messias did well.”
On young defenders Matteo Gabbia and Pierre Kalulu, Giroud continued: “I told then a little about (Tammy) Abraham’s weaknesses, he is a very strong forward and he showed it again today. Pierre and Matteo did well.”