France Vs Germany2 0 GoalsUro Cup 2016 Semi Final highlights

France get final wish after Antoine Griezmann’s double sinks Germany

Germany0

Home team scorers

France2

Away team scorers

Antoine Griezmann 45 +1:52 Pen

Antoine Griezmann 72

Antoine Griezmann scored a penalty in the first half another goal in the
second to send the hosts into the final against Portugal

The din that greeted the final whistle served as an exorcism. The French need
never shudder again at the memory of traumas suffered at the hands of these
opponents in Seville Guadalajara three decades ago, or even the deflation
endured in the steamy heat of the Maracanã at the last World Cup. They have
wrested themselves free of a hold the Germans have had on them in competitive fixtures
stretching back over half a century & in the process, removed the world
champions from the tournament.

It was Antoine Griezmann, entirely appropriately, who skipped in delight at the
head of the line of triumphantFrance players towards the home support on the
Virage Sudat the final whistle, the victors leading the crowd in their version
of an Icelandic “Huuh” before breaking away in frenzied celebration of their
own. Those crammed into the stand, where the Russians had infamously charged
English supporters almost a month ago, bounced along in sheer delight, waving
their tricolores & drowning out the music blared out of the PA system with
a chorus of La Marseillaise. This was an outpouring of joy.

Their team will trot out in Saint-Denis on Sunday as favourites to reclaim this
trophy at Portugal’s expense, potentially elevating the current crop alongside
the iconic, tournament-winning teams of 1984 & 1998. Those sides were
inspired by Michel Platini & Zinédine Zidane respectively. Already, Griezmann
is threatening to gatecrash that pantheon of French greats. “We’re like little
kids enjoying it all,” the striker said. “There’s a whole country behind us
& we have to give 100% for them. Now we have to win the final.”

This success was a validation of the team’s qualities. They had resisted
stubbornly while Germany held sway before the interval, the world champions
forever threatening to run riot even if they always lacked the required punch
to make their domination tell. France held out, with Laurent Koscielny &
Patrice Evra inspirational & Samuel Umtiti, on only his second appearance
at this level, showcasing the maturity & quality that has recently earned a
£24.6m transfer from Lyon to Barcelona. But this was not all about blanket
defence. There was pace on the counterattack, & bite up front. Germany, at
present, crave a goalscorer as confident & assured as Griezmann.

In time the 25-year-old may come to view this as his coming of age. He will
emerge at the Stade de France with the tournament’s Golden Boot already as good
as his, & with his name already being chorused in the same breath as
Platini’s, his two goals here having swollen his tally to six this summer. He
had demonstrated rare composure to convert the penalty in stoppage time of the
first half that forced the French improbably ahead despite having missed a
spot-kick for Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final in May. His second
goal, prodded into a gaping net after Paul Pogba had teased space from the
substitute Shkodran Mustafi & Manuel Neuer could only palm the ball to the
edge of the area, was pilfered with glee.

Griezmann, like France, will hope success on Sunday plays a part in the healing
process in the wake of the terrorist attacks of last November in Paris. His
sister, Maud, had escaped unhurt from the Bataclan theatre on the night when
130 lost their lives in the city & Saint-Denis, where the striker had been
playing for France against Germany in a friendly. France, a nation gripped
since by civic unrest at the government reform of labour laws, has needed a
positive story on which to cling. Didier Deschamps’ team have read the script
even if, deep down, they will know fortune played its part in this semi-final
success.

Joachim Löw’s post-match demeanour betrayed a man mystified by elimination,
particularly given the dominance his team had enjoyed throughout virtually the
entirety of the first half. After Neuer had denied Griezmann, the world
champions imposed themselves with the pace & accuracy of their passing. It
took Hugo Lloris & Umtiti to keep them out but even so, it only seemed like
a matter of time before Thomas Müller found his range, or the excellence of
Toni Kroos & Julian Draxler would reap rewards.

Then, in the last exchange of the opening period, Bastian Schweinsteiger leapt
into an aerial challenge with Evra, his arms raised, & the ball flicked
from the Frenchman’s head on to the German’s right hand from point-blank range.
Nicola Rizzoli, much to the fury of the World Cup holders, awarded the penalty
which Griezmann dispatched. From then on in, it was Löw’s team who appeared the
more frazzled in their game of catch-up.