Hosts France scored five times on Sunday to brutally extinguish the Iceland fairytale and set up an intriguing Euro 2016 semi-final against world champions Germany in Marseille on Thursday.
There was almost a stunned disbelief around the Stade de France at the break, as the host nation walked off with a 4-0 advantage.
It was however done in emphatic fashion, with two of the goals coming in the closing minutes of the half.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Olivier Giroud’s low strike and Paul Pogba’s powerful header from a corner kick had settled early French nerves and put them in control.
Dimitri Payet scored his third goal of an increasingly memorable tournament for the West Ham playmaker with a precise low strike from 20 yards that skidded across the greasy surface.
Then, Antoine Griezmann deftly lifted the ball over Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson.
After the restart, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson stabbed home at the near post from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s cross as Iceland refused to give in.
But France restored their four-goal advantage when Giroud headed in a free-kick.
Still, there was more to cheer for the excellent Iceland fans when Birkir Bjarnason headed a second for his side in the final stages.
In spite of all these, it all turned out to be a remarkable tournament debut for their team.
Didier Deschamps’ side had only conceded twice in the tournament before meeting Iceland — both penalty kicks — but they had not scored in the opening half of a match.
They have only really shown in flashes that they can reproduce on the pitch the ability they appear to have on paper.
That changed at a wet but atmospheric Stade de France on Sunday.
Griezmann had not scored in 648 minutes of football for France at this ground but he ended that with his composed, delicate finish.
In some ways the goal was everything that was best about France; a patient 14-pass move that ended with a moment of invention to open up the opposition.
A raking ball forward was superbly dummied by Giroud, completely bamboozling the Iceland defence and giving Griezmann a clear run at goal.
The goal took Griezmann to four in the tournament and he is now the highest scorer at Euro 2016, with Payet and Giroud among several
players one behind.
But even though France were very comfortable winners, it was far from a flawless performance.
Iceland created several decent chances — Jon Dadi Bodvarsson shot over from a good position in the first half.
Hugo Lloris made a brilliant save to stop a Sverrir Ingason header after the restart — in addition to their two goals.
After defeating the Republic of Ireland and Iceland in the knockout stages, France will face a very different challenge against a German side with a lot more attacking capability.
Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo rather sourly remarked that Iceland would “not go on to do anything’’ after their 1-1 draw at the start of the group stage.
But, how wrong he was.
Their exploits at Euro 2016 have not only done wonders for spreading the word about Iceland’s modest population (329,000 in case you had not heard) but captivated a nation.
It has also been one of the feel-good stories of a tournament that has desperately needed them.
They not only defied the odds by qualifying from the group stage — including a dramatic late winner against Austria — but also deservedly eliminated England.
This was in a match they will surely never forget, before running into a red-hot France.
Under the calm and steady joint stewardship of part-time dentist Heimir Hallgrimsson and former Sweden boss Lars Lagerback, they showed what can be achieved through determination and organisation.
Even after they were on the wrong end of a 4-0 half-time scoreline against Les Blues, they showed the character and passion to ‘win’ the second half 2-1.
They were cheered all the way by their magnificent fans, who gave the tournament the incredible hand clap.(NAN)
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