Antoine Griezmann stepped up to fire home the resulting spot-kick to give the hosts an undeserved lead at the break.
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After winning their first major semi-final appearance since the 2006 World Cup, Didier Deschamps’ side will be favourites as they look to seal glory having won their two previous Euro finals.
“I’m delighted for the players, it was a very tough game against a team who made us suffer but we suffered together”.
Thanking the passionate fans in Marseille, who gave his side a bit extra when they were in difficulty, Deschamps said he hoped the win would give the French population something to cheer after a hard period. “And that’s why I’m proud of my teammates”. “It’s fabulous to be in the final”.
Griezmann, who could have completed a hat trick in the 86th minute but shot straight at goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, was already looking ahead.
“Of course we ” re sad and disappointed not to reach the final, but that ” s football”, he said. “We have to keep our feet on the ground and prepare for this final”. “We put in a lot of effort, showed good body language, got forward and were good in one-on-ones”, he said.
Euro 2016’s top goalscorer, Griezmann took his tally to six goals on Thursday after his country defeated Germany at a major tournament for the first time since 1958.
Griezmann scored both goals, crowning an impeccable match.
“I really wanted to take a penalty in another important match”, said Griezmann in his post-match interview. “I was very composed, I didn’t think twice”, Griezmann said.
In the opening period of the game, Germany was on a relentless wave of attack.
Likewise, Mexico’s party at the 1986 World Cup was over in the quarter-finals on penalties as Germany went on to lose the final to a Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina.
Loew, though, said the decision was merely “bad luck”, and maintains that his side was the better team at Stade Velodrome. You can say the hand shouldn’t be there but there are movements when you jump and you can’t control them. They then had to cope with losing key defender Boateng, who picked up an ankle injury after an hour.
Paul Pogba, the influential midfielder who provided the cross which led to Antoine Griezmann’s second goal, said: “It’s great, it’s insane”. Now it is Griezmann who has dazzled.
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Paul Pogba needed to do more work in midfield and that stunted his attacking potential against Germany, but he still found space to come up with the little moment of magic to set up the second goal, sparking wild celebrations for the home fans. “Today that wasn’t the case, we were better than the French”, the head coach added.
