13 fun facts about Olivier Giroud

While Giroud's heart and soul are dedicated to France, he does have a little bit of Italian in him. Both his maternal grandmother and paternal grandmother are of Italian descent. Perhaps playing for AC Milan in Serie A was written in his destiny.

Giroud had a relatively late beginning to his professional football career. He only signed his first professional contract with Grenoble at the age of 21. While he was far from being old, it represents a late start for a footballer.

However, ever since, the World Cup winner hasn't looked back and has proven any naysayers wrong about him and his career.

Like many footballers, Giroud is also a deeply religious man.

A god-fearing Catholic, he has tattooed The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” which is a scripture verse from Psalms 23, on his right arm.

One can easily spot it whenever the French target man is in action.

It didn't take much time for Giroud to score his first professional goal, a stoppage-time winner against Le Havre for Grenoble immediately after being promoted to their senior team.

However, in his third start of the season, he got his first professional red card in match against Gueugnon on 30 March 2007.

Today, Giroud is someone who is revered by most people in the footballing world. Even if he doesn't score, his mere presence on the pitch causes much trouble to opposition defenders. Any manager would surely love to have him in their squad with the experience and skill he brings.

However, this wasn't always the case. His former manager at Grenoble, Mehmed Baždarević, believed that the player was never going to be 'elite' and told the club to sell him.

A World Cup and a Uefa Champions League trophy later, Baždarević may be regretting his decision.

In an interview, the AC Milan forward cited former Rossoneri striker and compatriot Jean-Pierre Papin as his childhood hero, and someone he hopes to replicate on the pitch.

In fact, credit for the former Arsenal striker's goalscoring must be given to Papin, as the 2018 World Cup winner himself says he was just trying to mimic his idol's on-field antics.

Giroud isn't the only football player in his family; his elder brother Romain Giroud was a part of French club Auxerre's academy and even represented France at the under-15 and under-17 levels.

However, instead of becoming a professional footballer like his younger brother, Romain decided to focus on becoming a nutritionist.

Many footballers worry about their life post-retirement, but for the AC Milan forward this may not be a problem.

While he was training to become one of France's finest strikers, Giroud also finished a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences and Economy, and later on completed two years of a degree in science and techniques of physical and sports activities (STAPS).

Giroud is known for his excellent first touch, bizarre resume of goals, and being an excellent target man, to name a few, but, he is also known for being good-looking and having a great fashion sense.

It has led to many fashion brands signing him as their model and ambassador.

In an interview, the French forward stated that David Beckham inspired how he carries himself, and he wanted to emulate the ex-England midfielder.

The history books will show Giroud as being part of some of the greatest success stories seen in football in recent decades. However, one that may be dearer to him than others is when he led Montpellier to their first-ever Ligue 1 title in 2012.

By topping the scoring charts with 21 goals in 36 games, the Frenchman also helped his side top the league table and mark his name in Montpellier's history.

Giroud's out-of-the-world goals have surprised football spectators throughout his career, but what would shock people perhaps more than his banging goals is his venture into voice-acting.

In 2018, Giroud and France teammate Presnel Kimpembe were chosen by Sony Pictures France to dub the role of Green Goblin in the animated blockbuster Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

With his tally of 11 goals in the Uefa Europa League, not only did Giroud lead Chelsea to their second success in the competition, but he also broke the previous record of most goals by a Frenchman in a single European season previously held by Nestor Combin and Just Fontaine (10 goals)

A goal in Chelsea's 3-1 victory against Leeds United in the 2020-21 season meant that Giroud had become the oldest player in the Premier League's history to score in six consecutive starts.

In doing so, he also became the second player, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in Chelsea colours to achieve this feat.