Olivier Giroud managed to turn around a tricky situation around after annoying Croatia fans during his celebration following France's World Cup win. His response was extremely classy.
France were deserved winners of the World Cup and put together yet another complete display in the final against Croatia. Despite not always being top of the charts for statistics during the tournament Didier Deschamps side proved they were worthy winners.
The old adage is that attacks win matches but defences win tournaments and against Belgium, in the semi final, and Croatia, in the final, they proved that to be pretty true as they gave their opposition much of the ball, soaked up pressure and hit sides on the break.
One of the main reasons that tactic could be so effective was Olivier Giroud. The forward didn't manage a shot on target throughout the tournament but his ability to create space and hold up the ball for fellow forwards is a big help.
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However his class isn't just as a forward as proved by his reaction to being booed by Croatia fans. That happened after the final whistle when he accidentally celebrated in front of the losing side's fans.
The booed him but instead of taking offence he apologised and bowed to them for forgiveness, classy move:
The others - Umtiti, Matuidi, Giroud - did the same. A couple turned back toward their end, but Rami and Giroud walked along, applauding the Croatian fans, doing the bowing down gesture. Good to have grace in victory.
The young French side could well dominate football for a good few years yet, like Spain did between 2008 and 2012, with the likes of Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Raphael Varane not even reaching their peak years yet.
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Giroud is unlikely to be part of the next World Cup squad, as he'll be 35, although that is only likely to be the case for him and Blaise Matuidi from Sunday's starters.
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