Paris: France started a match poorly once again at Euro 2016 and once again they got away with it, beating Ireland 2-1 to reach the quarter-finals on Sunday.
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Ireland’s Shay Given and Robbie Keane after the game in Lyon. The clock appeared to be going backwards with the Irish team defending as if their lives depended on it for the remaining 43 minutes of the opening period.
Dimitri Payet was never anxious, although he conceded France could have made the effort earlier. Deschamps changed things after the break, pushing Griezmann into a more central role behind strike partner Olivier Giroud and replacing holding midfielder N’Golo Kante with pacey winger Kingsley Coman, which allowed playmaker Pogba to take the reins in the middle of the pitch.
He joined Wolves from fellow Championship side Cardiff City in January, and scored three goals in 16 games.
The ball across the face of the goal was delivered to the right area, and at great pace. They will be back stronger and with more experience to give a stronger fight in the upcoming years.
That was Ireland’s chance to win the game.
“We don’t do everything well – no team has done”, he added. “They showed a lot of enthusiasm, but we had to dig deep, get through the situation and get in front”.
“I’m used to games with only a few goals at Atletico Madrid. There’s lots of emotion here in Lyon and we really need this great support from the fans”.
The French were vastly improved upon the resumption, with forward Antoine Griezmann scoring twice in three minutes during the hosts’ best spell of the entire tournament.
Only Irish determination, and a lack of a final touch, prevented Griezmann finishing with a hat-trick.
Ireland’s problems were compounded by playing the last 25 minutes with ten men.
For nearly an hour, they looked incapable of finding an equaliser to Robbie Brady’s early penalty.
France went close to conceding another.
“The bond between the players and the fans is something special”, Coleman said. Trapattoni’s team became a hard one to love and the attendances at home matches suffered. Defence improvement is definitely required by France, but their attack was in top form against Ireland and they kept forcing saves out of Randolph, the Irish goalkeeper.
Manager Martin O’Neill was certainly not looking to force the issue.
And he should be very happy and proud of his achievements and the job that he has done in a short space of time. The fans had the team, the players and the coaching staff to be proud of.
Jeff Hendrick was one of Ireland’s standout performers.
And most importantly, O’Neill has improved his players and brought them onto the global stage, which was highlighted by some fine individual performances, most notably from Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick.
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Martin O’Neill is confident he will lead the Republic of Ireland into their World Cup qualifying campaign despite not formally signing his new contract.
