Olivier Giroud will enjoy an emotional reunion with Morocco boss Walid Regragui during Wednesday night's World Cup semi-finals.
The reigning world champions sealed their place in the last four with a 2-1 victory over England at the Al-Bayt Stadium at the weekend, whilst Morocco became the first-ever African side to secure their place in the last four with a slender win over Portugal. Giroud was key to his nation’s success against the Three Lions having scored what was eventually the winning goal.
The strike - his fourth at the tournament already - saw the veteran striker extend his lead at the top of France’s goalscoring chart. He will no doubt be aiming to add to that against surprise package Morocco but in doing so he could trample over the dreams of one of his former teammates.
Giroud and Morocco boss Regragui were briefly teammates right at the start of the striker’s trophy-laden career. Having begun his career with Froges, Giroud then moved into the youth system of regional club Grenoble.
Working his way through the club, he eventually made his first-team debut in March 2006. He became more of a regular for the side during the following campaign.
Giroud was then joined at Grenoble by Regragui who was signed from French rivals Dijon. The pair even played in a pre-season friendly together against Strasbourg before the French striker was allowed to join Istres on-loan.
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In his absence, former defender Regraui would help Grenoble to promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time since 1963 but the two players would never play together again with Giroud electing to join Tours on a permanent deal after falling out of favour with then boss Mehmed Baždarević. Speaking about the move, he said: “I am neither resentful nor vengeful [towards Grenoble].
“I am just disappointed with what happened to Grenoble when there was great potential"
Giroud’s career has gone from strength to strength since having represented the likes of Montpellier, Arsenal, Chelsea and AC Milan. He now boasts the World Cup, Champions League, Ligue 1, Serie A, Europa League and numerous FA Cups among the trophies claimed in his career.
Former Arsenal and France teammate Laurent Koscielny has hailed the now 36-year-old for his hugely successful career. He said: "His story is incredible and should be an inspiration for everyone. I knew him when he was nothing and he was the same as he is now: humble, hard working, with a great mentality.
“Nothing was ever given to him. He had to work his way to the top and fight to get everything he got today and everything he achieved.”
In the meantime, Regragui hung up his boots shortly after his stint with Grenoble and has gone on to earn his managerial stripes in the Middle East and now has the chance to make history with Morocco. Ahead of the semi-final showdown, the pair’s former club have already moved to wish them luck with a touching social media post sharing an image of the duo sharing the pitch.
It read: “Congratulations to the Blues and our Olivier Giroud still scorer! Congratulations also to Morocco and its coach Walid Regragui, former club!
“The two men here during training with the GF38 will face each other on Wednesday in the semi-final.”
Whether the pair remember each other from their time at the Stade Lesdiguières remains to be seen but their assignments are unlikely to change either way as they attempt to lead their sides into the World Cup semi-finals.
