Olivier Giroud has revealed his excitement ahead of next week’s pre-season tour in Sydney, citing his fond memories of matches against Australia at international level and the chance to meet Arsenal fans as the reason he ‘can’t wait’.

Giroud, 30, scored a brace against the Socceroos during a 6-0 thrashing for France but admitted to the club’s website that he hasn’t been to the country before.

“To be honest, I’ve never been in Australia – or Straya as they say apparently! So yeah, I’m looking forward to it and I’m very excited to meet people there, our fans, and I can’t wait for it,” Giroud said.

“It’s a new culture, it’s so far from Europe so it’s going to be a long way, a long trip but I can’t wait to go there.”

When questioned, he recalled the comprehensive victory and casually highlighted it as a “good win”, one where France did “very well” in.

“I remember Patrice Evra, I cut back and he gave me the back pass and I tried to chip the ball above the keeper. It was a good finish, I remember this one – it was one of my best ones with the national team. Obviously I scored a brace so it was a good memory.”

“I remember some players, some Australian players like Jedinak who used to play for Palace and I remember he was the captain. Now he plays for Villa. He’s a really good guy and I don’t know, I think I took his shirt. I don’t remember but hopefully I will grab one Australian shirt when I get there.”

He was also asked about the Australian way of playing and gave his thoughts on their free-flowing style.

“They play with freedom, I think. They are very generous, strong, determined and they just play forward. They don’t calculate too much and they play with their hearts, like they play maybe in rugby too!

“I’m a big fan of rugby so I have to say that it was a very tough game, even if we succeeded to kill the game quickly because we scored and were efficient. But I remember a very proud and generous team.”

Giroud will be hoping for a positive pre-season campaign ahead of an important year of football to come, both at club level and with France as the World Cup in Russia is fast approaching.

He has been heavily linked with a move away, with Everton chasing his signature hard. Latest whispers, however, claim that Giroud wants to stay at Arsenal and fight for his place.

Let’s hope that’s true. These comments seem to show that he’s focusing on preparing with Arsenal so fingers crossed…