Italy Legend Jokingly Names France’s Best Striker After Own Goal Against Belgium

• Giorgio Chiellini hilariously picked France’s best striker after Les Bleus pipped Belgium in the Round of 16 in Dusseldorf
• The former Italy defender believes the two-time European champions have been helped by own goals in the tournament
• Regardless, France is in the quarter-finals and will meet either Portugal or Slovenia for a place in the last four

Legendary Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini took a sly dig at France following their hard-fought victory against Belgium in the Round of 16 on Monday, July 1.

Les Bleus had to battle fiercely to secure their quarter-final spot, ultimately benefiting from Jan Vertonghen’s own goal just five minutes before the end of the match.

Substitute Randal Kolo Muani’s misfired attempt from close range fortuitously struck the Belgian defender, wrong-footing Koen Casteels to give France the decisive goal, MARCA reports.

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This marked the second instance in the tournament where an own goal had favoured the two-time European champions.

How own goals helped France to Euro quarter-finals

For context, Didier Deschamps’ team had scored just three goals in the tournament, none from open play.

Their 1-0 victory over Austria was secured by Maximilian Wober’s own goal.

In their second game, France was held to a goalless draw by the Netherlands, and in their final group match, captain Kylian Mbappe netted a penalty in a 1-1 draw with Poland.

Prior to Vertonghen’s unfortunate own goal, France had the highest number of own goals scored in their favor at the tournament.

Chiellini jokingly names France’s best striker

In his post-match analysis of the Round of 16 clash between France and Belgium, Chiellini, who captained Italy to Euro 2020 success, humorously remarked that “own goal” is France’s best striker in the competition.

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of France,” he said on Fox Sports, as cited by ESPN.

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In the same game, Sports Brief also highlighted N’Golo Kante’s impressive performances at the ongoing European Championship, setting a new milestone in the process.

Kante became the player with the longest unbeaten run in the tournament’s history, breaking former Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez’s record.

Kante has been France’s key player, winning back-to-back Man of the Match awards before delivering the decisive assist against the Red Devils.