Antoine Griezmann has put away his French team crampons, as a second international break approaches in less than a month. The Atlético Madrid player has his reasons, but one thing is certain: he will not be the last to say stop at a fairly young age.
Antoine Griezmann announced his international retirement, at the age of 33 and when he was expected to stay until at least 2026. The 2018 world champion is one of the most popular figures in French sport: his daily monitoring via X of France’s medals at the Paris Olympic Games was one of the attractions of the summer.
Since the retirements and departures of Hugo Lloris, Blaise Matuidi, Paul Pogba, Raphaël Varane and Olivier Giroud, supporters of the French team are perhaps a little lacking in players with whom they become attached and identify; Kylian Mbappé is far from – humanly – unanimous among the French public. Griezmann was everyone’s “brother”, their friend.
His international retirement, however, did not come out of nowhere. We cited Mbappé: the fact that Didier Deschamps made “Kyk’s” the captain of the Blues to the detriment of Griezmann was a first blow. L’Equipe gives more details: the retirements of Lloris and Giroud, the departure of Pogba (suspended for doping) have somewhat isolated Antoine Griezmann within the locker room.
Griezmann soon to be imitated by several stars… including Devils?
But above all, Griezmann came out of the September break “tired”, and on this level, he will not be the only one. The current pace is absolutely unsustainable for players. Most of the top internationals play in the European Cups. They therefore play, with this new European format, every 3 days.
Then, every month, it’s time for the national team. Euro 2024 in June-July; Nations League matches in September, October, November with two matches on the program each time. Almost no winter break for most championships. And from March 2025? Qualifications for the 2026 World Cup will be on the program, without forgetting the final phase of the Nations League for those who qualify!
Suffice it to say that things aren’t going to calm down any time soon, and players will end up wondering if it’s really worth continuing. Kevin De Bruyne has a string of injuries: we really wouldn’t be surprised if, within a few months, he also announced that he had had enough. Selections like England, Germany, Spain, Portugal could also see players in their late thirties stop spending.
And when fans also get tired of seeing football every 3 days, but on top of that, they will no longer see their favorite players when they pay for their ticket to come to the stadium? So perhaps UEFA and FIFA will think of a better way to showcase their product…
