Now teammates at LOSC, Olivier Giroud and Ethan Mbappé had actually met long before sharing the same dressing room. The French striker remembers meeting the young midfielder in Russia during the 2018 World Cup, when he was accompanying his older brother Kylian Mbappé and his family. Ethan was only 11 years old at the time.
Football sometimes produces unexpected reunions. At Lille, 40-year-old Olivier Giroud now plays alongside 19-year-old Ethan Mbappé. The two players have each made five Ligue 1 appearances and scored one goal this season, but their first meeting dates back eight years.
“I first met Ethan in Istra”
It was during the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Ethan Mbappé was following his brother Kylian’s journey with the France national team, who would go on to win the world title. Giroud was of course part of that adventure and had the opportunity to meet his teammate’s younger brother. “I first met Ethan in Istra, Russia. He was 11 years old. To be playing with him now is great,” Giroud told L’Équipe. It is a special situation for the veteran striker, who is now surrounded by players who were still children when he was winning his first major trophies.
Giroud insists, however, that he has no trouble sharing the dressing room with this new generation. “I don’t feel too disconnected from the younger generation, except when it comes to music and fashion. But I adapt and I’m easy-going,” he explained. The generation gap has even led to some amusing moments, with some of his young teammates unaware that Giroud won the French league title with Montpellier in 2012.
“Some of them didn’t even know that I had been French champion with Montpellier in 2012… It’s funny, we talk about it and they don’t know my career,” the striker added. It may feel like another era for Giroud, but for some of Lille’s younger players, his career is something they are only now discovering.
