Jun 16, 2016- Late goals from Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet saw hosts France edge past Albania to become the first side to reach the Euro 2016 knockout stage.
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Marshalled the midfield alongside Matuidi and apart from letting Lenjani to get away from him in the first half, didn’t do much wrong.
‘When I went into the dressing room heads were down, but I told the lads to pick themselves up and be proud of the way they played against a team with a lot of ability.
Griezmann, who was a surprise omission from Didier Deschamps’ starting line-up, was introduced in the second half and made his presence felt with a superb headed goal before Payet rounded off the victory with his second of the tournament for the hosts.
Leaving it late is not ideal – certainly not for frayed French nerves, including those of French President Francois Hollande, who jumped out of his seat and thrust his arms in the air when Griezmann scored.
And Payet capped another man-of-the-match performance by firing into the far corner to round off a harsh scoreline on Albania. Payet cut in from the left and beat two players before curling in the second goal. “He’s got a lot of confidence”.
Albania, desperate to make their mark in their first major tournament after an early red card scuppered their chances in their opening game against Switzerland, defended with gusto and nearly went ahead early in the second half when French full back Bacary Sagna bundled the ball against his own post. A cross from Evra was deflected into the path of Kingsley Coman who could only head the ball wide.
Albanian fans in the capital, Tirana, crying after the 2-0 loss to France at the Euro 2016 Group A match, Wednesday, June 15, 2016.
Euro 2016 Group A at Parc des Princes.
Admir Mehmedi scored from a spectacular volley 12-minutes into the second half to earn a point for the Swiss, which had fell behind in the 18th minute on Bogdan Stancu’s penalty kick.
However, just as Albania were looking set to take a point, Griezmann glanced home an Adil Rami cross.
Marek Hamsik starred for Slovakia, assisting Vladimir Weiss’ opening goal with a wonderful long pass, and netting a stunner of his own from the tightest of angles right before halftime to give Slovakia the two goals it needed to secure three points. Albania cleared many crosses that made their way into the box, but not far enough to prevent Les Bleus from sustaining pressure.
The Russians pulled one back in the 80th minute through Denis Glushakov’s header, but the team still has problems both on and off the field.
On the attacking front, they also tried making inroads from the left after sensing they could inflict some damage.
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England and Wales meet on Thursday in Lens, which is only 30 kilometers (around 20 miles) from Lille.
