France and England were two of the strongest teams in the world cup when they faced each other in the quarterfinals of the World Cup yesterday. France is eyeing a repeat of 2018, while England was hoping to finally bring it home.
It was an exciting contest, ending in a French victory. Real Madrid wonderkid Aurelien Tchouameni opened the scoring in just the 17th minute. But the goal scorer gave away a penalty in the 54th minute as he brought down Bukayo Saka. The spot kick was taken and converted by none other than Harry Kane.
The game then became deadlocked before Olivier Giroud stepped up and headed home a cross into the box in the 78th minute to put France ahead. Giroud’s goal would eventually help the French in seeing off the English challenge.
Giroud would go on to be crowned the man of the match, the award itself being sponsored by the official beer of the World Cup, Budweiser.
The AC Milan man received the trophy. But as he posed with the award, the Budweiser logo seemed to be turned the other way in such a manner that it wasn’t visible in the picture.
For fans, the absence of the Budweiser logo has come to resemble the pictures of Kylian Mbappe where the logo of the beer has been deliberately hidden.
While Mbappe’s reasons are clear and justified, there is still no clarity as to why Olivier Giroud mimicked his compatriot.
Media outlets and fans have explored the possibility of Giroud simply supporting his teammate.
French fans will be hoping that this is the case. The relationship shared by these lethal French attackers would eventually reflect on the pitch. The relationship off the pitch, more often than not, translates to increased team chemistry on the pitch.
Why is Kylian Mbappe against sponsoring Budweiser?
Mbappe has received the man of the match award on three occasions this World Cup campaign. All three times, the Frenchman has ensured that Budweiser’s logo has been hidden while he gets clicked while receiving the award. There is a reason behind this.
A recent report by L’equipe explains Mbappe’s actions. There is a clause in Mbappe’s image rights that prevents him from being associated with alcoholic beverages, junk food, and sports betting.
There couldn’t be anything better for France if Giroud’s actions in supporting his teammate came back to reward the French squad with the increased interplay between the two forwards. Between the two of them, veteran soccer player Olivier Giroud and wonderkid Kylian Mbappe, have already scored 8 times collectively.
Both of them have been instrumental in propelling France to the semifinals of the World Cup. France will play Morocco in the semifinals. While France is high on cloud 9 after its attack has lit up the World Cup, Morocco has conceded just a single goal in the World Cup of 2022. It will be an interesting contest for sure.