Euro 2016 semi-final preview: Germany v France

theguardian.com ^ | July 6, 2016 | Martin Laurence

[Berlin_Freeper]

The winner of Thursday’s meeting between the world champions and the hosts will enter the final as favourites. The two highest rated sides at the tournament – France on 7.17 and Germany on 7.15 – will be treating this game as if it were the final itself. Joachim Löw’s side are hoping to emulate France’s achievement of holding both the World Cup and European Championship trophy at the same time.

France have not been truly tested yet but neither have they breezed through a highly favourable draw. While their first-half annihilation of Iceland in the quarter-finals promised much, it was the first time they had scored before the interval. They are yet to fully impress in both halves of a game, which they will need to do against Germany.

France haven’t really faced a side of any great repute since they last met Germany two years ago, when they were knocked out the World Cup at the quarter-finals courtesy of a Mats Hummels header. Hummels, who is missing out through suspension, is one of a number of key absentees. By comparison, the return of N’Golo Kante and Adil Rami from their bans has left Deschamps with a full squad.

[Berlin_Freeper]

France versus Germany EURO 2016 Semifinals people. FRANCE versus GERMANY! EURO 2016 SEMIFINALS! TODAY!

[Berlin_Freeper]

Group A

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
FRA	2	1	0	3	7
SWI	1	2	0	1	5
ALB	1	0	2	-2	3
ROM	0	1	2	-2	1

France 2-1 Romania
Albania 0-1 Switzerland
Romania 1-1 Switzerland
France 2-0 Albania
Switzerland 0-0 France
Romania 0-1 Albania

Group B

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
WAL	2	0	1	3	6
ENG	1	2	0	1	5
SVK	1	1	1	0	4
RUS	0	1	2	-4	1

Wales 2-1 Slovakia
England 1-1 Russia
Russia 1-2 Slovakia
England 2-1 Wales
Russia 0-3 Wales
Slovakia 0-0 England

Group C

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
GER	2	1	0	3	7
POL	2	1	0	2	7
NI	1	0	2	0	3
UKR	0	0	3	-5	0

Poland 1-0 N.Ireland
Germany 2-0 Ukraine
Ukraine 0-2 N.Ireland
Germany 0-0 Poland
N.Ireland 0-1 Germany
Ukraine 0-1 Poland

Group D

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
CRO	2	1	0	2	7
SPA	2	0	1	3	6
TUR	1	0	2	-2	3
CZE	0	1	2	-3	1

Turkey 0-1 Croatia
Spain 1-0 Czech Republic
Czech Republic 2-2 Croatia
Spain 3-0 Turkey
Czech Republic 0-2 Turkey
Croatia 2-1 Spain

Group E

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
ITA	2	0	1	2	6
BEL	2	0	1	2	6
IRE	1	1	1	-2	4
SWE	0	1	2	-2	1

Ireland 1-1 Sweden
Belgium 0-2 Italy
Italy 1-0 Sweden
Belgium 3-0 Ireland
Italy 0-1 Ireland

Group F

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
HUN	1	2	0	2	5
ICE	1	2	0	1	5
POR	0	3	0	0	3
AUT	0	1	2	-3	1

Austria 0-2 Hungary
Portugal 1-1 Iceland
Iceland 1-1 Hungary
Portugal 0-0 Austria
Iceland 2-1 Austria
Hungary 3-3 Portugal

Qualified for Round of 16: Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, Wales

Best third placed teams to qualify: Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia

Eliminated: Albania, Austria, Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine

Round of 16

Saturday, June 25
Switzerland 1-1 (Poland wins 5-4 on penalties) Poland
Wales 1-0 (Own Goal) Northern Ireland
Croatia 0-1 (117th minute goal) Portugal

---

Sunday, June 26
France 2-1 (Irish see RED) Ireland -- Lyon (3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET, ESPN)
Germany 3-0 (Tourney Team starts to peak at right time) Slovakia -- Lille (6 p.m. CET/12 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Hungary 0-4 (Blowout) Belgium -- Toulouse (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

---

Monday, June 27
Italy 2-0 (The rain in Spain falls mainly in Italy) Spain
England 1-2 ("Humiliated") Iceland

---

Quarterfinals

Thursday, June 30 - Match 45
Poland 1-1 (Portugal win 5-3 on penalties) Portugal

---

Friday, July 1 - Match 46
Wales 3-1 (Red Dragon defeats Golden Generation) Belgium

---

Saturday, July 2 - Match 47
Germany 1-1 (Germany win 6-5 on penalties) Italy

---

Sunday, July 3 - Match 48
France 5-2 (Globall Warming) Iceland

---

Semifinals

Wednesday, July 6
Portugal 2-0 (Red Dragon defeated) Wales -- Lyon (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

---

Thursday, July 7
Germany vs. France -- Marseille (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

---

Final

Sunday, July 10
PORTUGAL vs. W50 -- Saint-Denis (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

UEFA.com
UEFA Euro 2016 - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

#EURO2016

[Dagnabitt]

Would prefer Germany to win unless Hag Merkel is in attendance, then I would like them to lose.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Portugal celebrates Ronaldo’s new epic, Wales ‘devastated but proud’ after Euro defeat

“We are in the final, we are in the final,” became the mass chant in the Praca do Comercio,

[Berlin_Freeper]

Cristiano Ronaldo became the “Dragon-slayer”

“The team did a marvelous job to reach the final. I hope on Sunday you’ll see me crying with joy,” said Ronaldo, who as a 19-year-old wept on the pitch after Portugal lost 1-0 to Greece as hosts of the Euro 2004 final.

“I have always dreamed of winning for Portugal, I hope it is our time now.

“I am very confident. I deserve it, Portugal deserves it, all the Portugese people deserve it.”

[Berlin_Freeper]

Germany 20:00 France

[Berlin_Freeper]

Bastian Schweinsteiger to lead Germany against France - Joachim Low

"I have the team in my head and Bastian Schweinsteiger will definitely start," Low, 56, said.

"I said if he trains 100% without complaints then he'll play. He trained this morning and had no complaints."

He added: "The injury is cured and he showed against Italy he's got the strength to play from the start, and I believe he's very, very important, particularly in such a game - his experience is very valuable.

"We have three players - Mario Gomez, Sami Khedira and Mats Hummels - whom we have to replace, which is not easy, and this is why it is important that an experienced player like Bastian starts."

[dfwgator]

My prediction: 2-1 France. Germany is a bit short-handed, with Hummels out and Schweinsteiger at less than 100%, I don’t know if they’ll be able to handle France’s speed.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Germans relish semifinal matchup vs. host France

"Super, when it's like this. No really, it's a motivation," Loew said from his team's tournament base on Monday. "In Brazil, I think it was exactly the same for the semifinal. The whole land of 200 million was standing behind this team. But we came through fine and now we'll come through fine."

Expectations in France are surging after the side impressed in defeating Iceland 5-2 on Sunday to reach the semifinal.

Loew said the home side will have "fanatical support behind them in Marseille" and that the team will be high on confidence after growing into the tournament by scoring decisive goals late in games.

"Two teams with outstanding individuals are playing, teams with a clear mindset," said Loew, who had identified France as one of the main favourites before the tournament.

"They are different from the Italians, not quite so defensive. They have strong players going forward, [Paul] Pogba from midfield, [Blaise] Matuidi. So it's a game of two teams at eye-level. It's super that there are such games. I love these knockout games against such strong opponents."

[Berlin_Freeper]

I’ll go with 2-1 Germany. With Neuer being The Man of The Match stopping the fanatical French.

[dfwgator]

Neuer is always the X-Factor, I’ll agree.

[dfwgator]

And I think we all know France being the host nation really won’t matter here, seeing how the Germans did the last time they played a host nation in a semi-final. But that being said, France is much better than Brazil.

[Berlin_Freeper]

About speed... Germany will have fast Schürrle and Götze on the sides just like against Argentina in the World Cup final. And Müller in the front, who by law of averages finally has to score like Lewandowski finally did - LoL! Defense will be a solid 4-chain with experienced Höwedes taking Hummels' place, young and fast Kimmich on the side who many compare to Lahm, and Mustafi who already scored in the opening match.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Germany expects.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Should be a rip-roaring match. Really looking forward. Gonna go out and fully enjoy the day. Hopefully it will end special. ;)

[Berlin_Freeper]

#GERFRA

[period end of story]

...and Muller will score at least once.

[cartan]

…but not in a penalty.

[moose07]

Tricky call..
Hmmm.
Garlic or Wurst?

Jerry gets the vote.
Germany 3 : France 1

[Moltke]

bmfl