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It is set to be a sea of the tricolour in the Stade de France on Monday morning, after hosts France defeated world champions Germany 2-0 in their semi-final in Marseille, courtesy of an Antoine Griezmann double.
The stats may have read in Germany’s favour, most notably a dominating 65% in possession, but two defensive errors cost the world champions dearly, coupled with their own ineffective radar in front of goal. “Possession for possession’s sake” will be the maxim to describe Germany’s exit from Euro 2016.
France went in with an unchanged line-up from their quarter-final win over Iceland, while Germany were forced into three changes following the suspension of Mats Hummels, and injuries to Sami Khedira and Mario Gomez.
This meant a start for their listed captain Bastian Schweinsteiger – his first of the tournament. While the German machine seemed unaffected by the loss of such personnel, it would be Schweinsteiger that played the role of pantomime villain, giving away a penalty via handball at the stroke of halftime.
The penalty appeared innocuous at first, as Schweinsteiger’s offence only came via the header of Patrice Evra. But the Germans paid the price for their captain’s injudicious raising of his arms inside the penalty area, and was duly rewarded via Griezmann’s well-placed spot kick. It was a half-time lead for France against the run of play, but would set the tone for the second stanza to follow.
Les Bleus coach Didier Deschamps resisted the temptation to switch to defensive tack following the goal, instead allowing his team to close down space in the midfield to circumvent Germany’s short passing game. This meant a series of misplaced crosses and loss of possession by the world champions, and the errors mounted.
It was on the back of a second error in the where France got the goal that would ultimately decide the contest. A poor loss of possession by right back Joshua Kimmich allowed Paul Pogba to float in a cross that the normally safe Manuel Neuer parried feebly, allowing Griezmann to toe poke through a series of legs to deliver France their moment of ecstasy.
While 20 minutes were still to play, Germany’s response was that of a side realising their fate. Against the tide of the French tricolour inside the Stade Velodrome, against a team within a fine purple patch, even this was too steep a challenge for the usually reliable Germans. As for France, Paris awaits, and Portugal awaits, on Monday morning.
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