The second semi-final of the 2016 UEFA Euro between France and Germany was played Thursday, and it was certainly a tale of two halves.
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The winners of the competition, meanwhile, will be given £7m while the runners-up will receive £4m, meaning that if France or Portugal reign victorious on Sunday they could be in line to get up to £23m.
France now look ahead to Sunday’s showdown with Portugal, a quick turnaround for the hosts, who only have two full days’ rest.
Last United player to appear at Euro 2016?
UEFA can point to its financial results as an argument for keeping the 24-team format beyond Euro 2020, despite criticism that the quality of football has declined.
The 56-year-old has a German FA (DFB) contract until the 2018 World Cup finals in Russian Federation.
However, he accepted they came up short in front of goal. Germany would respond with determination and push to score but constantly found a wall in GK Lloris who was phenomenal the all game and saved all German attempts to score. However, it was soon apparent that this wasn’t their night and it would be theirs and Schweinsteiger’s final match at Euro 2016.
“I had my share [of finals] as a player”.
“I would say we missed Mario Gomez most”.
“Antoine Griezmann is a great player”, coach Didier Deschamps, usually reluctant to single out someone, said after a scintillating performance by the Atletico Madrid striker. “It’s disappointing to go in at the break trailing as we did”. Germany were the best side [we’ve played]; we did what we needed to today. “Although we had to suffer we never gave up and that’s great”. But they did realize they still have one more game to play, right?
Loew and his players were bitterly disappointed at the defeat having had the lion’s share of possession in a game in which France beat Germany in a major tournament for the first time since the 1958 World Cup. We’re into the final and there’s a trophy up for grabs. “Now we are in the final again and we hope we will win it. I hope that we’ll be smiling and that it will be tears of joy in the end”. “I would like to take my hat off to France on behalf of the team”. “We don’t have the power to solve people’s problems but we can give them a bit so they can forget their worries”.
Antoine Griezmann was once more the hero for France, blasting into the back of the net to help his team become the first host nation to twice reach a European Championship final.
Deschamps hailed Germany as “a great team”.
“We were unfortunate to concede a penalty a minute before half-time, that was bad luck”. “We played a good European Championship and it’s very bitter to go out”.
Though Platini is banned from any football duties until 2019 by FIFA’s ethics committee, he could go to see France vs. Portugal at the Stade de France without getting involved in official business.
“Of course we’ve had some very tough times this year, both with those tragic events but also with events that have gone on off the field”, the Tottenham goalkeeper said.
With 10 goals in 12 games, Giroud has established himself as a real striking force for France. We created pressure in the second half but there was always the danger on the counter – we invested everything and we tried everything, and we had our chances.
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“There is a lot of passion and fervour”.
