Switzerland right-back Stephan Lichsteiner was judged to have taken down forward Alexandru Chipciu in the box in the 18th minute, and Genclerbirligi midfielder Stancu sent Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer the wrong way from the spot.
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He was introduced at half-time and made a positive impression as goals from Antoine Griezmann and Payet settled the game and ensured Les Bleus’ place in the knockout stages. As for Antoine Griezmann, I’m managing him.
France looked anything but Euro 2016 favourites as they laboured against a side ranked 42nd in the world, and were very almost on the end of a major upset with Albania rattling a post. However, Albania were well-organised in the first half, and France were frustrated by a deep-lying Albanian backline until the last minutes.
For Euro debutant Albania, the match was the second harsh lesson in the realities of major tournaments and left it without a point or a goal scored.
France has looked silky at times during its two matches at the European Championship but its lack of cutting edge up front could become a serious source of concern in the latter stages of the competition. “Now, in one-on-one situations and challenges, he’s always up for the fight”, he said.
“I think I’ll have grey hair by the end of this tournament with all the stress”, France center half Adil Rami said.
“It shows the players are prepared to keep working right to the end”, Deschamps told reporters.
The 20-year-old played noticeably different from the free-flowing Martial who lit up the pitch in his debut season for Manchester United. I’m not saying they didn’t try to score, they have the ability to counter and they did that a lot in the first half.
“We didn’t do enough in the first half but the second half was a lot better”, he said. “It would be good if we could avoid that type of insane scenario”, he said after picking up his second successive man of the match award. The result leaves Russian Federation likely to need a win from their final group game against Wales to avoid elimination, while Slovakia, who face England in their final match, now have a good chance of progressing to the knockout stage. “We were a bit laborious in the first 45 minutes because Albania were physically fresh”.
“Once we finally got going we let loose a bit – albeit slightly late in the day”.
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If France coach Didier Deschamps wanted to see how his team would cope without the pair, who both disappointed in their opening 2-1 win over Romania, then he did not have to wait long for the answer. “Scoring late is becoming a habit but, to be honest, I would prefer to break the deadlock a little earlier”.
