France: Giroud talks about his Algerian role model!

Sep 30, 2026

French striker Olivier Giroud, who recently celebrated his 40th birthday, discusses a role model who inspired his longevity in the sport.

In an interview with the daily L'Equipe about his longevity role models during his youth, the former top scorer for the French national football team first mentions Italian legends Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini.

When asked to talk about those he played alongside, he responds, “I had a perfect example and we were just discussing it recently with Nabil Bentaleb, his name is Nassim Akrour, an Algerian international.”

He continues, stating, “When I started at Grenoble, I was about 18 or 19 years old, and he was maybe 31 or 32. He played until he was nearly fifty. His professionalism was impressive, he was as thin as a wire and he was the one who ran the most.”

Giroud thought he might take his place, but... “I thought: okay, he’s already 32, he must have a few years left, but when I returned from my loan at Istres in 2008, he was still the number 1 striker. I thought: Wow, how far is he going to go?”

Nassim AKROUR - 06.02.2010 - Grenoble / Auxerre - 23rd matchday of Ligue 1 Photo: Jean Paul Thomas / Thomas Pictures / Icon Sport - Photo by Icon Sport

In the end, at 34 years old, Nassim Akrour was still a starter, which led Olivier Giroud, then 22, to join Tours in Ligue 2 to finally give his career a boost.

The Lille player plans to retire at the end of the season, before turning 41, while the Algerian striker retired a year ago, playing for Chambey at the age of 51!

DZfoot