It was an unforgettable tournament debut by Iceland, drawing against Poland before eliminating England – an achievement that will be remembered along with the feats of the new European champion, to be crowned back at the Stade de France next Sunday.
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Thanks to his shrewd tactics, his team turned on the style to outplay Iceland 5-2 on Sunday and advance to an appetising semi-final battle against Germany.
“If you look upon the whole tournament, as a newcomer to reach the quarter-final it’s been absolutely fantastic”. “We didn’t handle it well mentally”, Lagerback said in reference to that 2-0 Zagreb defeat after a goalless first leg.
One of the smallest countries in Europe, Iceland, with a population of just 330,000 and no professional football clubs, qualified for their first-ever major finals in France.
Deschamps hailed his side’s performance though he acknowledged the weaknesses highlighted by the two goals.
The second goal was a simple corner to the far post that the soaring Pogba headed emphatically home.
But France replied with Giroud beating Halldorsson to a Payet free-kick immediately before the Arsenal striker was withdrawn.
Payet went over to kiss the left boot of Griezmann, the team’s top scorer with four goals at Euro 2016.
Sigthorsson, who netted Iceland’s victor against England, scored for the second game running after poking in Gylfi Sigurdsson’s cross on 56 minutes.
However, Giroud struck again on the hour mark with a header for his third goal of the tournament.
FC’s Alison Bender and Sebas Christensen discuss France’s victory over Iceland at Euro 2016.
There were welcome goals from Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Birkir Bjarnason to restore a measure of Icelandic pride but Swansea City midfielder Sigurdsson reflected on a supreme first-half showing from the hosts, who now face the prospect of a mouthwatering semi-final against world champions Germany in Marseille on Thursday. As France scored four first-half goals – the first from Olivier Giroud on 12 minutes and the fourth from Antoine Griezmann right on half-time – it was hard to believe they were playing the same team who had dominated England last Monday.
“This tournament with all the fans coming here and what we heard from back home – all the positivity and all the interest – I feel it deep in my heart”. “It’s been such an awesome experience, it’s been a lot of hard work and the supporters have been fantastic”.
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However, the Rapid Vienna midfielder – who scored the victor in their 2-1 group stage victory over Austria – insisted defeat should not diminish Iceland’s pride at making their mark.
