adminPARIS. — Olivier Giroud scored twice on Sunday night to take man-of-the-match honours as France marched into the Euro 2016 soccer semi-finals but even after a 5-2 hammering, Iceland departed with pride having struck new underdog blows. France now play Germany aiming to settle old scores from past World Cups and Euros. And having home advantage and an attack led by Giroud and Antoine Griezmann that is starting to fire gives the French growing confidence.
The semi-finals will start tomorrow however with Gareth Bale’s Wales taking on Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal.
Giroud hit a goal in each half of the comprehensive victory at a rain-drenched Stade de France. He was joined on the scoresheet by Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Griezmann. Atletico Madrid striker Griezmann hit a brilliant chip on the stroke of half-time and now leads the tournament rankings with four goals.
French coach Didier Deschamps may have been worried however by the way Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Birkir Bjarnason exposed France’s defensive frailties with two second-half goals.
Giroud was quick to pay tribute to Iceland, the revelation of the European Championship after their 2-1 victory over England.
“We scored five goals, we are very satisfied but Iceland never gave up. They fought with valour, they were very determined,” said the Arsenal striker.
“I want to pay tribute to them. They had a wonderful Euro,” added Giroud, who was brought off after his second goal to avoid getting a new yellow card that would have led to a suspension.
“I’m very proud. It’s been a fantastic tournament, something special for a small team like us,” said Iceland striker Gylfi Sigurdsson.
“We’ve probably overachieved. It is something no-one expected us to do, which is good because it gives kids back home hope that this is possible and hopefully in the future we’ll be back in the finals,” added the Swansea City star.
“We have probably 10-15 players who are at a really good age and we’ll be looking forward to the World Cup qualifiers which aren’t too far away.”
Iceland has only a population of 330 000 but Euro 2016 has put the country “on the map”, according to Arnor Ingvi Traustason.
“I’ve been getting messages from all over the world from people proud of us,” he said.
Didier Deschamps’ men will take on Germany in Marseille on Thursday for a place in the final.
Deschamps hailed his side’s performance though he acknowledged the weaknesses highlighted by the two goals.
“It’s not ideal even if I made some changes but there are so many positives to take from tonight,” he said. — AFP.
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