PARIS (AP) – France and Switzerland settled for a 0-0 draw that suited both sides, while Albania staked its claim to a place in the last 16 of the European Championship by eliminating Romania in a 1-0 victory on Sunday.
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Granit Xhaka, who tore his shirt once in each half, joked that perhaps some shirt tugging from the French was involved, because “it’s the only way to stop a Swiss player”.
However, they have looked far from convincing so far and, incredibly, three of their four goals have come in the 89th minute or later, including both of their strikes against the Albanians in Marseille on Wednesday.
LILLE, France France ended the group stage of Euro 2016 in the position they wanted but with their coach still looking for the right formula to bring the best out of a team with high expectations.
Les Bleus were the dominant team, with the returning Paul Pogba striking the crossbar twice in the first half and substitute Dimitri Payet doing the same after the break as Switzerland failed to muster a single shot on target. Switzerland caught the eye more for torn shirts than attacking play.
He saw an early shot saved by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer and then smashed an effort from 25 yards onto the bar and over. Switzerland benched luckless striker Haris Seferovic in favor of 19-year-old Basle forward Breel Embolo.
The pitch was threadbare and cut up easily during the 0-0 draw between France and Switzerland, with ground staff out in full force during half-time to attempt to replace divots and ease some of the damage.
Stancu had another chance in injury time, but Albania managed to survive until the end, as they finish the group with 3 points, and will be waiting for the final standings of the best 3rd placed teams!
Early miscommunication from a corner nearly led to a Switzerland opener with eight minutes gone, as Shaqiri swung in a great cross that Pogba almost turned into his own net. The two converged on the ball and the panels were torn, with Behrami picking up the piece of leather and showing it to Slovenian referee Damir Skomina. Team manager Didier Deschamps is expected to make some changes in the lineup of France like the omission of Olivier Giroud and N’Golo Kante who have been given yellow cards in their previous games. “The other sides will need to run and be good enough to play against us”.
When Chiriches signed for Tottenham in the summer of 2013, I firmly believed Tottenham was getting an unknown player.
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With France playing well in the first 20 minutes, forward Antoine Griezmann set up striker Andre-Pierre Gignac near the penalty spot, but his slightly scuffed shot was blocked.
