"It's a great source of pride" - Antoine Griezmann on equaling Michel Platini to become France's joint-third top scorer of all time
Antoine Griezmann has equalled Michel Platini's tally to become the joint third all-time scorer for France. The Atletico Madrid forward reached the feat following another day in office as Les Bleus defeated Finland in their World Cup qualifier clash on Tuesday.
"It's a great source of pride," Antoine Griezmann reacted to matching Michel Platini's record of 41 goals for the national team.
"Since I've been here since 2014, I always try to bring the best, whether it's goals, with my defensive or offensive work."
Asked whether Tuesday's display was the best he's pulled off in a France shirt, the attacker replied:
"There have been others. But I am very happy with my performance and that of the team."
The Frenchman was happy that Les Bleus were able to end their disappointing five-game winless run:
"We wanted this victory to show that we were solid and that we didn't lose everything," he said.
"There was a good state of mind. We gave everything we had on the field and we tried to hurt them up front."
"What changed? Maybe we found a system that suits us better. We'll see, the coach will decide. But this time we were strong. We had drawn five times, and it was starting to take a long time. Here, we won in style."
Antoine Griezmann scored twice to lead France to a 2-0 victory over Finland in the World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday. That raised his goal tally for Les Bleus to 41 in 98 appearances, making him the third highest scorer for his nation, alongside Michel Platini.
The 30-year-old is now 10 goals behind the country's all-time scorer Thierry Henry. It remains to be seen if he can overthrow the former Arsenal forward from the top of the list in the coming years.
Antoine Griezmann back at Atletico Madrid
After failing to find his feet at Barcelona, Antoine Griezmann decided to return to his former club Atletico Madrid this summer. The Frenchman was signed by the Rojiblancos on a two-year loan deal with the option to make it permanent for €40 million.
He is expected to form a decent attacking pairing with Luis Suarez at the Wanda Metropolitano. Only time will tell whether he can reach the same level of performance he demonstrated during his first spell at the club.