Hosts France will play Portugal in the final of Euro 2016 as Antoine Griezmann’s brace and a masterclass in defence helped France overcame Germany 2-0 in a riveting semi-final at Marseille.
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France’s star of Euro 2016 Antoine Griezmann exorcised some of his Champions League demons with the penalty which put his side on the way to an appearance in the final against Portugal.
“We have three days before the final, it’s very short so we have to savour this victory”.
“The celebration is a dance from Drake’s music video “Hotline Bling”, the Atletico Madrid forward said. “We clearly dominated the game and played with force and courage, but we failed to score, and I can not blame anyone for that”.
“He’s (Griezmann) a great player and he proved that against Germany, he works very hard, along with Olivier Giroud from a defensive perspective he made us a very compact unit”, Deschamps was quoted as saying by goal.com after the win. Griezmann is the first player to score six goals at a Euro since Platini, who netted nine times when France triumphed as hosts of the 1984 tournament.
Speaking to the media after the win, Deschamps revealed his delight at what he described as an “excellent result”, but explained that “it gives us nothing today”, except the chance to challenge for the title against Portugal.
“We are delighted tonight to make it into the final, it’s huge and incredible for me too”, Sissoko said.
“Just because we are at home and beat Germany doesn’t give us extra powers”.
Thierry Henry, their former striker and a veteran of that team, said Griezmann had given the country reason to dream again with his superb performances. “The ones I chose to form this squad have repaid me handsomely”.
“We played our best game at these European Championship, as weird as that sounds when you’ve lost 2-0”, admitted midfielder Toni Kroos.
No side ever wins a major football tournament without a modicum of good fortune and France arguably had theirs in the semifinal against Germany when they were outplayed for large parts of the game and were awarded a soft penalty.
The final will feature a clash of styles as Didier Deschamps’ pacey, attacking French team face Fernando Santos’s tactically astute and organised Portugal side.
“We had our chances, but sadly we didn’t score”. The only things keeping the game scoreless were near hits and great saves by French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Portugal received a huge boost ahead of Sunday’s Euro 2016 final showdown with France when central defender Pepe trained with his team mates and appeared to be injury-free.
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“We have to rest up well and already start thinking about the final”, he added.
