France Exit Euro 2020

UEFA Euro 2020 Round of 16 

The major upset in this tournament saw the favorites and World Cup champions France exit at the Euro 2020 round of 16 against Switzerland 3-3 (5-4) on penalty shootouts. 

France are out of the Euro and that is a shocker. Against a strong Swiss side, Les Bleus never looked to control the tempo of the game. And if it was not for Lloris, France would have existed early this game as they were lethargic during 55 minutes. But the Spurs’ keeper save the penalty for the French as they stormed back within 5 minutes and abrace from Benzema (2-1). Pogba added on a third thanks to a wonderful strike.  We got 20 minutes of brilliance from the World champions, they were back and set to face Spain in the quarterfinals. But in football like in any other sports, it is not over till it is over. Switzerland took a knee down but fought back at 3-2 and then 3-3, an unbelievable turn of circumstances. The extra 30 minutes did not produce a winner, the penalty shootout did when Sommer save Mbappé’s strike as Switzerland upset the French at the Round of 16. 

France coach Deschamps on the loss.

“We did what we needed to in order to go 3-1 up and then we showed weakness, something unusual for us. Losing on penalties is always cruel for a team. Kylian Mbappé is incredibly sad, as are all the players, but nobody can be upset with him as he took on the responsibility of taking the fifth penalty.”

Spain and Croatia play the game of the tournament

Spain prevails 5-3 Croatia on extra time. Both teams played the second highest scoring game in Euro history with a total of 8 goals. Down 1-0 Spain came back and had the lead at 3-1. But a resilient Croatia got into the game with just a few minutes left to force the overtime. During the extra 30 minutes, Spain turned on another gear and scored two more goals. 

Spain coach Luis Enrique on the win:

“I don’t think there’s a national team coach anywhere in the world who wouldn’t value Morata and what he does for the team. He’s dominant aerially, he’s strong and he gets us goals. We really need to appreciate having a striker like him.”

I’m ready for games like this if we have another – but I’m not sure if my family or the fans feel the same. I made a team ready to play matches like this and, frankly, I reckon we only really made one big mistake. The end of the match was so beautiful – I’m glad that the game gave us a second chance to win it.”