Alexandre Lacazette has been named captain of the France Olympic team ahead of this year’s games, despite initial doubts over whether he’d even accept a call-up.
GFFN report that former Gunner Alexandre Lacazette has been named captain of the France Olympic team, having been selected as one of three over-23 players in the squad.
The Olympic regulations only allow for three “overage” players in each squad, and France boss Thierry Henry selected Lacazette as one of his.
After the initial announcement of Henry’s intention to include Lacazette in the squad, there were some doubts over whether he’d accept.
French outlet L’Equipe claimed that Lacazette himself wasn’t aware he’d be called up until it happened, and he took some time to decide whether or not to accept.
Lacazette’s club, Lyon, also weren’t aware he’d be called up, but they were willing to respect the choice of their player.
France tried until the end to convince Kylian Mbappe to join the squad, and they also strongly believed they could call up Antoine Griezmann. As a result, Lacazette’s call-up was a last-minute decision, only communicated to him through the official squad announcement.
Perhaps in part to sweeten the deal, but also respecting his experience as a footballer, Lacazette has now been named captain.
France will open their Olympic campaign against the USA on Wednesday, July 24th, facing Guinea on July 27th and New Zealand on July 30th to complete the group stage.