A penalty awarded seconds before half-time caused turmoil in the German camp.
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“He’s our little Mr Extra”, said fellow striker Olivier Giroud after the dramatic win before 65,000 spectators on a hot Thursday night in Marseille.
“It’s an excellent result and it’s been a long time since we beat Germany but it gives us nothing today”.
Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli saw that German captain Bastian Schweinsteiger handled the ball in an aerial challenge with Patrice Evra.
France won the World Cup on home territory in 1998, when coach Didier Deschamps captained the side. We do, too. It’s still very open.
Their reward is a place in the final where they will be strong favourites to emulate the teams of 1984 and 1998 who won the European and world titles respectively on home soil.
“Tomorrow I think we are going to write a new chapter in our history”.
“We have a few players with a few caps but they gave everything and that’s great for me as a coach”. “I never doubted France’s victory” in the semi-final, said Prime Minister Manuel Valls, adding that he was also “confident” for the final. “This is their story, their victory”.
Antoine Griezmann accepted it was the France team’s duty to excel at the European Championship to lift the mood of a nation wounded by terrorist atrocities and social unrest, and his two goals eliminated Germany and booked the home country’s passage into the final. “I’m delighted for my players because this was a very tough game against a team who made us suffer”.
He does his share of running off the ball but, in return, is still allowed to take all free kicks within shooting range and penalties.
“For the second goal I was just lurking to see if there was a mistake from the goalkeeper, it dropped to my feet and I was delighted”.
“You can’t simply buy time and experience, but (on Sunday) we have the chance to make history within French football”.
On top of the joy of reaching the Euro finals, French players were also elated to have finally beaten Germany again in a competitive match.
Deschamps, who met reporters much later than expected, said he was delayed as he soaked up some of the atmosphere after France defeated Germany in a major competition for the first time since the 1958 World Cup.
Lloris told how France’s run to the final had given the country “an escape” after the trauma of the November 13 attacks, which included suicide bombers trying to get into the national stadium as France played Germany. We gave a lot and had a body language of power. Everybody would have said, “Deserved win for Germany”.
Griezmann has already had a tearful tournament exit, having cried on the pitch at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana after France lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup quarter-finals.
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“We were the better team, we invested a lot (in the match)”, said Loew.
