France boss Didier Deschamps has revealed that he decided to play Antoine Griezmann rather than Olivier Giroud in his side's World Cup quarter-final defeat because he wanted pace in his team.
The Arsenal striker made way for the midfielder in his side's loss to Germany after starting in the second-round win over Nigeria, and Deschamps has admitted that the reasoning was simply tactical.
"Why did I play Griezmann rather than Giroud? I made that choice because it was important to put speed [into the team]," Deschamps told L'Equipe.
"I expected to see Philipp Lahm on the right flank of defence, so we needed to defend well on that side too. Antoine did well in the second half."
Giroud scored one goal at the World Cup.
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