Antoine Griezmann walks out of France press conference after firing subtle dig at Didier Deschamps
ANTOINE GRIEZMANN walked out of a press conference after a question about his France future – while firing a subtle dig at Didier Deschamps
Griezmann featured in all six of France’s Euro 2024 games before crashing out in the semi-finals to Spain.
The Atletico Madrid star started in the opening two and in the two knockout stages before being benched in the semis.
Griezmann did come off the bench against Spain but could not prevent his nation from slipping to a 2-1 defeat.
And he appeared to take a thinly-veiled swipe at under-fire boss Deschamps for leaving him out.
He said: “I started badly. Afterwards, I felt better and better, and I ended up on the bench.
“We’ll come back. I tried to give my all with a lot of tactical and positional changes. You had to adapt all the time.”
Griezmann – who won the 2018 World Cup with France and has 44 goals in 135 matches – was then asked if he will consider international retirement.
But the former Barcelona forward sighed and let out a little laugh as he walked off.
Griezmann was not the only one to get pressed on his future within the French national side with manager Deschamps also pressed.
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But he snapped back: “Ask my president. I’ve just lost a semi-final. Do you think I’m already going to answer?
“I respect you, but try to respect the people who have responsibilities too.
“I’m telling you this calmly. What happened happened. I’m here to answer your questions, but I’m not going to answer this one today.
“You know very well the situation and what my president thinks. So you shouldn’t even have asked the question.”
Deschamps won the World Cup and European Championship as a France international.
And he took over as boss of the national side in 2012 and led them to World Cup glory in 2018 with a final loss to Argentina four years later.
Deschamps in 2023 extended his contract until 2026 with his eyes on the World Cup in North America.
