Euro 2016 Group A Final Matches a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
June 20, 2016
1,529 Views
- That was a tough watch last night
- A draw for France and Switzerland was always going to be a mutually beneficial result. I’m not saying that there was any collusion between these two sides but at times it certainly felt like it
- France will be asking themselves how they didn’t go on to win that game after hitting the woodwork no fewer than 3 times
- A much more improved Paul Pogba having the misfortune of rattling the frame of the goal twice while substitute Dimitri Payet nearly ended a fantastic sweeping move late on only to see his volley cannon back off the bar
- Once again it seems as if Didier Deschamps doesn’t know his best team as this time Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Pierre-Andre Gignac were given the opportunity from the start
- But for all the possession and chances that France had they still failed to breach Yann Sommer’s goal
- Yes they may have had some misfortune in becoming so accustomed with the woodwork but they certainly didn’t look like tournament favourites last night
- Once again Switzerland were another side who failed to register a shot throughout the whole game
- But they should definitely have had a penalty in injury time when Bacary Sagna had more than a handful of Blerim Dzemaili’s shirt
- Had that been awarded then we could have been looking at Switzerland topping the group and with the easier route throughout the knockout stages
- But as it stands it’s the hosts France that sit pretty at the top of Group A but if they are to win this tournament then they are going to have increase their level of performance
- It’s as almost as if they used up all their luck with two late winners against both Romania and Albania while that luck had apparently desserted them last night
- Will this be symptomatic for France for the rest of the time that they are in the competition
- Apart from that there wasn’t a great deal about to write about in terms of matters on the pitch
- The other highlight if you could call it that was the fact that Switzerland seemed to have bought their shirts from a local market stall while the ball burst to much delight
- Yes it really was one of those kind of nights
- In the other group game Romania went into the tie knowing they had to win and Switzerland had to lose to have any chance of snatching second place
- While Albania knew a win would have them waiting impatiently to see if they could get through to the Round of 16 as one of the best four 3rd place sides
- And it was to be a historic night for Albania as they registered their first ever win in a major tournament finals
- Armando Sadiku’s goal was enough to give them the win and subsequently send Romania packing
- What with the tournament only losing eight teams at this stage they now have to hang on around until Wednesday night to see if they will still play part in the tournament
- Not an ideal situation but what else can they do
- A tense wait for Albania as they await the results of other groups
- Switzerland await the runners up of Group C in the Round of 16
- While hosts France France will now play the third-placed team from either Group C, D or E – meaning Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are both potential opponents
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