France duo intent on denying Messi dream
Theo Hernandez and Olivier Giroud are the latest players to speak of stopping Lionel Messi
France are looking to win a second successive World Cup while Messi searched for the trophy that would complete his outstanding career
N'Golo Kante man-marked Messi in 2018 but the midfielder has not featured in this tournament due to injury
It is a bold claim, but an understandable one from France's Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez: Lionel Messi does not scare us, and we will do everything we can to stop him.
In a strange way, it is also an easy claim to make - the epitome of "easier said than done". Almost every coach, player and fan that has seen their team drawn against Argentina at this World Cup™ has declared they are going to prevent Messi from producing his magic; that cutting his supply is the key to stopping him tearing them apart.
Arguably Saudi Arabia are the only side to have achieved this to date, though even they conceded a goal to Messi from the spot and were perhaps playing an Argentina that had not yet found their rhythm.
Speaking to the press, Hernandez and Giroud have become the latest to issue their mission statement on Messi: "I am tired but it's so good to win a World Cup semi-final," Hernandez told Gazzetta dello Sport, "now we must recover for Sunday. We are not scared of Messi, but Argentina are an incredible team and we have a few days to work."
Giroud, who during the tournament has become France's all-time leading goalscorer, was part of the side that defeated Argentina 4-3 in the round of 16 at Russia 2018.
In that game, N'Golo Kante – missing in Qatar through injury – was tasked with a man-marking job on Messi, whose five goals at this tournament are matched only by Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
Giroud gave little away as to whether a similar tactic will be employed but said the whole collective will do their part to deny Messi the biggest prize of his illustrious career.
"Messi is an incredible player, but we are not going to let him enjoy the best night he can have," he said. "We want to win this game. We want to win another World Cup – and we will try everything to stop him.
"But there is not only Messi in that team. They have got great players who work for the team also. I think that is why they are so strong.
"I don't know if we need a special plan. I remember back in the days of 2018, N'Golo was all the game on his back, behind him. But this time I don't know what will be the plan. We will see with the manager."
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