It will be a very happy night for two Arsenal players tonight, and probably a much extended Parisian party, if France can beat Portugal to win Euro 2016 at the Stade De France. And if Les Bleus are to give the home fans the end to the tournament that they crave then I would expect our two Gunners to play a big part.
The clear and obvious danger man from their opponents Portugal is the Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who may not have had the same sort of impact that we have seen from him in recent years but has still shown some real class such as the brilliant towering header that set them on the path to beating Wales in the semi-final.
France backed by the crowd will surely have a go at Portugal and so Koscielny and his defensive team mates will have to be alert and ready to cope with the counter attacking threat as well as set pieces and in what is expected to be a tight game the Arsenal defender needs to be on top of his game and to make no mistakes.
At the other end Giroud will have the tough task of taking on Ronaldo’s Madrid colleague Pepe and the Southampton centre back Jose Fonte and how well the Arsenal forward does this could make all the difference. Even if he does not score himself Giroud can play a massive part in France’s attacking system and make space for the likes of Griezmann and Payet to do their thing.
Will we have two very happy Gunners in Paris tonight?
Bob.