Antoine Griezmann Fires France Past Republic Of Ireland Into Quarter-Finals [Best Tweets]

Antoine Griezmann saved France’s blushes as his brace enabled the host nation to a nervy comeback victory over Republic of Ireland to send them through to the quarter-finals of the competition.

The 2016 edition of the European Championships has witnessed its fair bit of upsets going into the knock-out stage of the competition, but the Republic of Ireland set themselves up for the biggest scalp of the tournament yet, when they went ahead of hosts France in only the 2nd minute by virtue of a Robbie Brady penalty.

Nearly an hour’s worth of persistent attempts at goal finally bore fruit when Antoine Griezmann met Bacary Sagna’s cross with an absolute bullet of a header to level things up in Lyon. Only 3 minutes later, Griezmann won it for Les Bleus when Giroud’s header sent the Atletico Madrid striker into open space before he slotted the ball past Darren Randolph.

Both sides played out a gripping encounter worthy of a knock-out fixture at the end of which France emerged victorious against a spirited Irish side, who hoped to repeat their heroics against Italy to secure progression to the quarter-finals. They took their first big step towards achieving that when Shane Long was ‘debatably’ brought down in the French box by Paul Pogba to hand the Irish a penalty in only the 2nd minute which Norwich City’s Brady duly converted.

Some anxious moments ensued for the French supporters who were staring at an unlikely early elimination at the hands of Ireland of all the teams. Thus, when Griezmann powered in his header in the 57th minute to level things up, the entire country heaved a collective sigh of relief. The equaliser tipped the pendulum firmly in France’s favour, who only 3 minutes later had superstar Griezmann net another one to send them through to the quarterfinals.

They may not have been the best in the tournament, but the Irish most certainly had the best fans in France with their supporters’s acts of friendship and celebration capturing the imagination of world audience. There was an outpour of support for the Irish on the aftermath of a loss that will hurt them especially after holding their lines so well ahead of that second half capitulation.

Manager Reactions

France

Didier Deschamps admitted that his side had to dig deep to beat an unfancied Irish side who were resilient on the night and were beaten by two quality strikes from Antoine Griezmann. Speaking of the game the boss said, “I knew it was going to be a difficult match, and when Ireland took the lead it made us a bit more uncomfortable in the first half. They showed a lot of enthusiasm but we had to dig deep, get through the situation and get in front.”

The Frenchman conceded that despite being hosts, the tournament was very even and that France have to work very hard if they are to have any chance of lifting the trophy on home soil. He said,”It’s a very even tournament. This team is giving a lot of emotion to the crowd and making everybody fall in love with them. There’s lots of emotion here in Lyon and we really need this great support from the fans.”

Republic Of Ireland

Martin O’Neill was understandably disappointed with his side’s second half capitulation that handed the French side their progress to the quarterfinals, especially after the start they got. Speaking to the media after the match he said,”It’s a natural disappointment considering the position we got ourselves into, and you look at the goals we conceded. Another six or seven minutes – and I know that’s a long time – without conceding and France might have got panicky. The players couldn’t have put anything more into the game, not an ounce left.

“There’s never a good time to go out of the competition. We were playing a very fine side in France, possibly the tournament favourites, and we had a go. We had them under pressure and at half-time we’re in the lead and feeling we can win the match. When we analyse qualification and the tournament, we’ve done very well – hence the disappointment.

“The tournament has been great for the players, and naturally for the supporters. The fans have been wonderful in the four games we’ve had and they’ve given the players extra energy throughout the tournament,” he added.