Griezmann “deserved an extraordinary farewell” according to his teammate in the French football team Ibrahima Konaté

Antoine Griezmann a annoncé sa retraite internationale le 30 septembre dernier. XinHua – Ding Xu

Antoine Griezmann méritait "des adieux extraordinaires" à l’équipe de France, a estimé mardi 8 octobre, le défenseur Ibrahima Konaté au sujet de la retraite internationale d’une légende des Bleus.

“Griezmann, the famous Grizou… Frankly, what happened saddens me", said the Liverpool player about the surprise announcement on September 30 that the player with 137 caps (44 goals) was hanging up his Blue jersey.

"With everything he has done for France, all his caps in a row without ever missing one (88 in a row, Editor's note), I think he deserved an extraordinary farewell", said the defender with 17 caps at the training center in Clairefontaine.

"It's not possible"

Griezmann "it was a typical example of a leader", added Konaté, who was speaking in preparation for the Nations League matches against Israel on Thursday in Budapest and Belgium on Monday in Brussels.

"I would have preferred, I think everyone would have preferred to know at the last gathering (in September) for a proper farewell", he regretted.

When Grizou announced his retirement, "I didn't even comment on his social networks because I was too surprised", Konaté said again, saying to himself: "No, but no, it's not possible, it can't end like this!"