Auteur de son premier but en Bleu, l’attaquant espère profiter du forfait de Giroud pour briller en Allemagne, mardi 12 septembre.
It took eleven appearances for Marcus Thuram to finally score his first goal with the French national team. He came on as a substitute in the 26th minute for Olivier Giroud, who was injured in the left ankle. The 26-year-old player did not miss the opportunity at Parc des Princes against the Irish (2-0) during the Euro 2024 qualifiers, with his famous father Lilian watching from the stands.
Une belle récompense pour l’ancien Guingampais, régulièrement convoqué chez les Bleus depuis novembre 2020, mais qui se contente pour le moment de miettes et d’un statut de remplaçant au poste d’avant-centre. Thuram n’a ainsi été titularisé qu’à seulement deux reprises avec les vice-champions du monde, en raison d’un rendement encore loin d’être optimal et d’une sévère concurrence.
He could have boosted his statistics against Ireland, but once again he struggled with finishing, drawing amused comments from his teammate Dayot Upamecano. « I congratulated him on his goal, but he should have scored two, » said the Bayern Munich defender with a big smile. Didier Deschamps shares the same analysis. « He was frustrated with himself because he could have scored at least one or two more. The most important thing is to score goals. It’s also good that he’s becoming more efficient. He has a good heading game and is capable of making runs. He’s a complete forward, but still has room for improvement, » said the coach.
Devenir plus clinique
Deschamps, who wore the Juventus Turin jersey for a long time (1994-1999) and is familiar with Serie A, knows better than anyone: at Inter, where he joined this summer despite advances from PSG and AC Milan, Thuram will inevitably be judged on his goal-scoring ability. So far, the native of Parme, where his father played, has not particularly excelled in this area.
During the four seasons spent in Mönchengladbach between 2019 and 2023, he only scored 44 goals in 144 matches, across all competitions, even though he initially played as a winger before gradually transitioning into a striker.
Pour venir bousculer une hiérarchie où il apparaît clairement derrière la superstar Kylian Mbappé, Olivier Giroud et Randal Kolo Muani, Thuram, surtout connu pour sa vitesse et sa puissance, devra donc étoffer sa palette et devenir plus clinique dans la surface de réparation.
Giroud’s unavailability and Kolo Muani’s lack of playing time, as he has been resting due to a sprained right ankle, might give him the opportunity to play against the Germans on Tuesday in a friendly match in Dortmund. It’s up to him to seize this chance and prove that he is more than just a substitute.
