Olivier Giroud enjoys proving his detractors wrong

When Oliver Giroud was languishing on the bench at his local club Grenoble in 2006 there was little to suggest he would lead the line for his country against Germany in a European Championship semi-final 10 years later. "My coach told me this: You don't have the level to play in the second division, let alone the first division," Giroud has said. "They didn't play to my strengths and I wasn't given the confidence. It really hurt." The comment was, arguably, what made Giroud into the player he is today. With his prospects diminished he opted to take a step down, moving on loan to third division club Istres. Fourteen goals in 33 games earned him a move to Tours back in the second division. He has not looked back since. His club statistics since 2008, be it at Tours, Montpellier - where he won the French first division title and ended as the league's top goalscorer in 2011-2012 - or Arsenal, would be the envy of many forwards. His goal-to-game ratio is just under one in every two and he has emulated that for France. Sunday's two goals in the quarter-final against Iceland at Euro 2016 took his tally to 20 in 53 appearances, including nine in his last 10 starts. When Giroud begins,...