BERLIN: While Olivier Giroud fights to start for Chelsea, his France place looks rock solid heading toward the European Championship next year.
By which time he might well have overtaken Michel Platini in France’s scoring charts.
Giroud took his international tally to 36 with the second goal in Group ‘H’ leaders France’s 4-1 home win against Albania in qualifying for Euro 2020 on Friday. Only France greats Platini with 41 and Thierry Henry with 52 have more goals for Les Bleus.
Yet Giroud is not always in favour with Chelsea despite the veteran striker finishing as top scorer in last season’s Europa League with 11 as the London-based club won it to qualify for the Champions League.
It’s a different story for Harry Kane because he continues to be an undisputed star for club and country.
His hat trick in a 4-0 home win against Bulgaria ensured England’s third straight win in qualifying and moved them on top of Group ‘A’ ahead of Kosovo, who beat the Czech Republic 2-1 at home.
World Cup semi-finalists England are unbeaten in 11 matches against Bulgaria, who are last in Group ‘A’ with two points.
Also, defending champions Portugal won at Serbia 4-2, with the ever-prolific Cristiano Ronaldo grabbing his team’s third goal.
At Stade de France, France maintained their unbeaten run in home European Championship qualifiers since 2010.
Albania’s players were stunned when the wrong national anthem was played beforehand, delaying the start by nearly 10 minutes until the correct one was played.
“It was a big thing. The players said they wouldn’t start without the right anthem,” said Albania’s Italian coach Edoardo Reja.
Once the action started, Kingsley Coman celebrated his second and third France goals in what has been an injury-hit international career since bursting onto the scene at Euro 2016.
After Coman opened the scoring early on, Giroud finished off a fine move involving strike partner Antoine Griezmann and left back Lucas Hernandez to put France further ahead.
Albania had trouble containing the runs of Hernandez, who drew a foul to earn a penalty in the 36th. Griezmann strode confidently but went for power over placement and smacked the ball against the crossbar.