Griezmann's Praise For Deschamps Becomes An Allusion To Koeman

Antoine Griezmann (Photo: Antara))

JAKARTA - Antoine Griezmann scored a superb goal against Croatia in France's 2-1 win in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday, 15 October. This is his third international goal in 2020.

After the match, Griezmann said that Didier Deschamps knew exactly where to play him. The player's statement was considered an insinuation for Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, who until now has not played the player in his best position.

The former Atletico Madrid man was positioned in a central position behind forwards Anthony Martial and Kylian Mbappe, who scored the winner after Nikola Vlasic's equalizer.

Despite his impressive form for France, Griezmann has yet to find his best form under the new Barcelona coach.

The 29-year-old player is often placed on the right wing, Griezmann still fails to score goals or even create opportunities in his three appearances in La Liga for the 2020-2021 season.

However, he forgot about the problems with Barca as he helped his country to victory in the UEFA Nations League match on Thursday.

"The coach knows where to put me," Griezmann said of Deschamps in an interview with TF1 quoted by Antara on Thursday.

"I took advantage of this situation, from this place, from the confidence of the coach and my teammates."

"It was a difficult game, not too beautiful to watch, not too beautiful to play, on a difficult pitch. We know how to play in these circumstances, the most important thing is to win and show that we are strong."

This victory makes France collect points equal to leaders Portugal Group A3, the two countries drew 0-0 on Sunday last week.

"It's difficult for everyone. We know we will work hard," Deschamps told TF1.

"We did the right thing in the second half. This team always has character. Just because you won the title (World Cup) in 2018, doesn't mean you win with the snap of your fingers."

"If we don't score a goal against Portugal, it's also because the opponent is good. We faced a great opponent today even if we played well at the start of the match," concluded Deschamp.