Antoine Griezmann: Harsh words at half-time inspired France to victory

26 June 2016 17:23

Antoine Griezmann revealed there were harsh words in the France dressing room as the Euro 2016 hosts staged a major fightback to edge past the Republic of Ireland into the quarter-finals.

Trailing to Robbie Brady's second-minute penalty as Ireland got off to the perfect start in Lyon, Griezmann spared French blushes as he struck twice within three second-half minutes to turn the last-16 tie before defender Shane Duffy's 66th-minute dismissal for a professional foul effectively ended the game as a contest.

However, Griezmann admitted a few home truths were aired at half-time as Didier Deschamps and his players fought for their lives in their own tournament.

The Atletico Madrid star said: "We didn't play well in the first half and we said things in the changing room. The coach said things, the players said things, but we were playing for France to give everything we had.

"Our fans helped us and we are happy that we managed to get there."

If nerves were frayed both on the pitch and in the stands at a packed Stade de Lyon, Griezmann insisted he was not fazed by the Republic's lightning start, simply because he is used to the pressure of dealing in narrow victories.

He said: "For me, it's like this all year round with Atletico. We win matches 1-0 and we are suffering right until the end.

"We were hoping it would be different here with the French team, but it's been a bit similar. We knew it was going to be a complicated game, so we will enjoy it now.

"We are going to look at what we did well and what we did not so well. We are going to keep training to improve."

It took France 58 minutes to cancel out Brady's nerveless strike after Paul Pogba had felled Shane Long inside the penalty area, but Griezmann, who had squandered a series of chances before the break, was lethal after it, heading home Bacary Sagna's cross and then converting Olivier Giroud's superb knock-down.

Deschamps said: "I knew this match was going to be a difficult match and when Ireland took the lead, it made us a little bit more uncomfortable in the first half.

"We did react well and we played with lots of enthusiasm from then, but we really had to dig deep to get through this situation.

"This team is really bringing a lot of emotion to the crowd and making everybody fall in love with them. There's a lot of emotion here in Lyon and we really needed this great support that we had from the fans."

Ireland boss Martin O'Neill left Lyon intensely proud of his players after seeing them eventually wilt under the pressure of playing two enormous games inside five days against a side which had enjoyed a week's break.

He said: "I was asked at the press conference yesterday about the difference that three days makes to one side, and we definitely got the short straw in that aspect.

"I know that we knew about it before, but it is an incredible amount of time one side could have as an advantage over another team."

However, O'Neill was left wondering what might have been after seeing his players hand the hosts a genuine shock.

Asked if Ireland had reached their level by making the last 16, he said: "We were playing a very fine side in France, who are possibly the tournament favourites, today and we really had a go - not only a go, we had them under severe pressure in the game.

"We took the lead and at half-time we are not only well in the game but actually feeling that we could win the match, so no, I don't think so.

"When I analyse both qualification and the group that we were put into, then I think the team has done fantastically well, hence my disappointment at not going through today."

Source: PA