Coach Didier Deschamps had to read a half-time riot act to get the French to step up the pace against the Republic of Ireland in the last 16.
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France won’t be caught cold by giant-slaying debutants Iceland, according to skipper Hugo Lloris France captain Hugo Lloris vowed the Euro 2016 hosts would not be caught out by surprise quarter-finalists Iceland in tonight’s tie in Paris.
Deschamps downplayed any fears about whether Umtiti was ready for such a big occasion.
Speaking of his side’s trend of snatching victory with a last-minute goal, Lloris joked: “That’s very French, I would say”.
Iceland have been the great romance narrative of Euro 2016; however, I can not see the value in backing them to overcoming a truly elite-level side such a France who represent a considerable step-up in quality and competency from England. “They’re a good team who can play good football and they did not get to that stage by accident”.
But he stressed that Iceland were “not trying to be like any other team – we’re just Iceland”.
Gunnarsson, who plays his club football in Wales for Cardiff City, added; “If you didn’t believe (we could win Euro 2016) we wouldn’t be here, it’s a simple answer”. They twice beat Holland, they beat the Czechs and finished top of their group. They practice frequently in well-organised set-ups, with nearly no tradition of pick-up street games seen more commonly in other big countries.
“I’ve gone out and had a look at the pitch and it is a lot better than at the start of the tournament”, he said.
The ability to not just roll over against the bigger teams in the competition is a testament to their mental strength.
“When your players are individually not as good as your opponents, having two strikers gives you a better chance of creating chances. and even if one of the two has come back to defend, we want him to surge back up the field as quickly as possible when we recover the ball”.
“Iceland totally deserve to be here, they’ve been among the best teams”. “We fought as hard as anyone. We know what we’re doing”.
France, who started their earlier games in the finals in sluggish fashion, often needing late rallies to prevail, must make sure they are focused from the kick-off against Iceland, Sagna said. It has scored the same number of goals as France -six – and stands potentially 180 minutes from the final.
Lagerback is keen for Iceland’s shock troops to focus on the carrot of a semi-final in Marseille next week – a goal that brought out the 67-year-old’s artistic side.
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“He’s a key player for us”. We are more used to it the more games we play. The Iceland team is strong so I think the talk about everybody underestimating Iceland, I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. I’ve enjoyed – maybe not the first 45 minutes today – but all my time in Iceland and it’s been a privilege to be involved.
