Olivier Giroud is no stranger to controversy.
The French striker has divided opinion ever since arriving in North London from Montpellier in 2012. For some, he is the prime example of everything wrong with Arsenal. He looks good but lacks any sort of final product, and the Gunners will never truly be a great team with him leading the line.
Others, meanwhile, point to his record of roughly a goal every other game for the Gunners, and say that he just needs to be made the focus of the team.
Unsurprisingly, most of the same criticisms of the Arsenal forward have followed him to the international stage, where he has frustrated French fans despite bagging eight goals in his last eight games for Les Bleus.
https://twitter.com/Nick_Pettigrew/status/741366554462420993
On Friday night, Giroud kicked of Euro 2016 as the host’s first-choice striker. After missing a few gilt-edged chances, Giroud opened the scoring after getting on the end of a Dimtri Payet cross.
Romania soon equalised from the penalty spot, and France went in search of a second goal to claim all three points. That’s when man of the match Dimitri Payet announced himself on the international stage with a curled effort that has to be seen to be believed.
The crowd went wild as Payet’s wonderstrike sealed the victory, but you may have noticed one French player in particular getting caught up in the moment too.
As Payet sprinted towards the sideline to celebrate his goal, Giroud gave him a hefty shove, sending the West Ham midfielder to the ground.
When Payet's goal is better than yours https://t.co/wMckzUhPmE
— Meg (@meg__thfc) June 10, 2016
We’re sure it was just a friendly shove, and nothing sinister about stealing the spotlight.
