We provide all the essential viewing information ahead of Euro 2016’s semi-final fixture slate, complete with a preview of the competition’s penultimate round.
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“I have no words to describe the supporters, applauding us even though we were losing”, said midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. “I am happy for the players but also the fans”.
A brace in France’s 5-2 quarter-final victory over Iceland means that he has netted 10 in his last nine appearances for the national team.
Heroic Iceland finally ran out of steam against hosts France.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B Eggertsson tweeted: “I’m convinced that the football adventure is only beginning”. With holding midfielder N’Golo Kante available to play against Germany after missing the Iceland game through suspension, however, he might be tempted to revert to a tighter, 4-3-3 system.
“We haven’t taken on as big a country as Germany yet”.
“The players did a marvellous job”.
“He is a very effective player”. “In Brazil, I think it was exactly the same for the semifinal”.
“But we will go away for a couple of weeks then set our minds to it”.
Similarly, Italy overcame injuries to two key midfielders – Marco Verratti and Claudio Marchisio – before the tournament to play some neat football and find themselves within one kick of the semi-finals.
Their success could be pinpointed to the talents of one man, Gareth Bale, who has been arguably the only top talent to perform consistently in Euro 2016, but that would ignore the forces of a more influential member of this team.
Sverrir Ingason drew a stunning save from Lloris before Bjarnason gave the Iceland fans one final reason to cheer by nodding in Ari Skulason’s cross, but it is France that take another step towards a first major tournament triumph in 16 years.
And yet Iceland left the Stade de France far from browbeaten. If they make it into the final it would round off the special taste of Euro 2016.
“The first half was bad but the second half we played better”, he said.
A Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick nearly surprised Hugo Lloris, but any hope of a remarkable Iceland turnaround was extinguished in a devastating spell shortly before half-time.
Ive been getting messages from all over the world from people proud of us, he said.
“All the support we’ve had in Iceland – it’s been absolutely fantastic. Sadly it ended tonight”.
For the first time this tournament, the system worked perfectly from the start. Ronaldo’s comment that they had a “small mentality” due to their dogged defence won only more supporters for Iceland.
France has won five of eight meetings with Germany since German reunification in 1990 – including a 1-0 win in November – but those victories were all in friendlies. “But we showed in the second half it wasn’t something physical in the team, we reloaded”. I was top-scorer in 2010 (at the World Cup) in South Africa, but we went out in the semifinal and flew home.
“There are still some things we need to work and we’ll do that all together but yes, we are feeling good”. I don’t put much stock in such talk.
Team manager Oliver Bierhoff said it was just a matter of time. They have strong players going forward, (Paul) Pogba from midfield, (Blaise) Matuidi. When Giroud begins, France win 70 percent of games compared to less than half when he does not.
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PARIS (AP) – Home advantage has counted little for host nations in recent European Championship history. He believes the future for Iceland can be bright even without his expertise.
