Antoine Griezmann was France’s undisputed star, in their run to the final at Euro 2016, but at this World Cup so far, he has looked well off the pace.
His only goal at the tournament has come from a penalty against Australia, and he has looked far from his usual buoyant self. Griezmann still was trying to make things happen, with both his movement and his dribbling, but sometimes he just didn’t get the rub of the green going his way.
Right at the end of the first half with Debmark, Griezmann picked up the ball deep in France’s half, from a Danish corner, but by the time he had crossed the halfway line, Mathias Jorgensen decided that he had had enough and unceremoniously hacked him down.
It has also not helped him that Giroud has not helped him with those knock-downs that he so often profits from. France needs a fit-and-firing Griezmann in the knockout stage, where a mouthwatering tie against Lionel Messi’s Argentina could beckon.