France turned the match around in an astonishing way, but Switzerland refused to give up.
FRANCE – SWITZERLAND 3-3 (4-5 after penalties):
The European Championship quarter-final between France and Switzerland had to be decided on a penalty shootout on Monday night after a dramatic settlement.
Haris Seferovic scored first for Switzerland, but two goals by Karim Benzema and one by Paul Pogba in the second half made sure to turn the match around. There was still tension again towards the end when Switzerland took advantage of shaky defensive play from the French. Seferovic reduced and in overtime substitute Mario Gavranovic provided extra innings.
None of the teams managed to score in the extra innings and thus there were penalties. Kylian Mbappé became the scapegoat when he missed his penalty and Switzerland advance to the quarterfinals. The PSG star took the tenth penalty after all the others had scored. Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer went the right way and saved the shot for Mbappé.
When France met Germany earlier in the ongoing European Championships, former national team manager Egil Drillo Olsen created a number of reactions with his comments.
The veteran repeatedly stated that he did not like the way France was organized defensively, even though the French team ended up keeping a clean sheet in the match.
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– France is rubbishly organized defensively, the 79-year-old pointed out at the time.
Many took to social media to express that they think the former coach was a bit negative in his commentary on the way the French stars played.
Wenger responded
On Monday, France and the nation’s defenders were in action against Switzerland in the quarterfinals of the same championship. After a quarter of an hour of play, it was the Swiss who took the lead and the goal came after hesitant defensive play by the French.
Coach Didier Deschamps had chosen to go for three midfielders for the match and Barcelona’s Clement Lenglet was one of the three behind. However, he did not keep up with the turns when Haris Seferovic stabbed the Swiss in the lead in Romania.
That made former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger react. He sat as an expert in the studio of beIn Sport and did not like what he saw from his countrymen.
– When you have players who are superior to your opponent, you do not adapt your system to them. I would keep four behind, Wenger said during the match.
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Journalist Matt Spiro, who follows French football closely, pointed out that coach Deschamps after 35 minutes of play chose to drop the plan with three midfielders.
– For a catastrophic experiment it was from Deschamps, he wrote on Twitter.
The move did not seem to succeed immediately when Switzerland were dangerous initially in the second half – and got a penalty kick – but a save by Hugo Lloris really accelerated in the star gallery, but towards the end of the second half it cracked back at the French team and thus the Swiss came back in the settlement.
– It is open like a barn door in the French defense, pointed out TV 2 expert Petter Myhre when Gavranovic made sure that there was an extension of play.
Shock start
It was Switzerland that was the best team in the first half of Monday’s match and thus deservedly took the lead after it was played around a quarter of an hour at the National Arena.
Steven Zuber has had a good championship and he struck in from the left. In the field, Seferovic timed the jump perfectly and crushed Lenglet in the air when he headed in the lead goal.
Also defensively, the Swiss were good the first 45 minutes and France failed to create the whole world. However, Adrien Rabiot was fresh for the blues, whites and reds.
The Juventus player came in a good cross position from the edge, but the ball against Kylian Mbappé became imprecise and went behind the French star player.
Rabiot also clinked from distance after 29 minutes of play, but the ball went one meter to the side for goal and Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer had enough decent control.
Switzerland also came to some dangers during the first half, but not something that put goalkeeper Hugo Lloris on the big test after the goal.
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Thus, Seferovic ‘hit became the only goal of the round. During the break, Deschamps took control and took Lenglet off the field. In came the attacking player Kingsley Coman.
Magical minutes
The second half started with a great opportunity for Switzerland. Breel Embolo fought free inside the box and struck in front of goal. At the back post, Seferovic waited, but he missed when he had to finish from close range. A giant chance wasted.
Shortly afterwards, Switzerland was on the move again. Zuber challenged in the 16-meter and went to the ground after a tackle from Benjamin Pavard. Judge Fernando Rapallini first let the incident go, but VAR responded quickly and a penalty was awarded to the Swiss.
Ricardo Rodriguez came forward to take the penalty and put the ball down to the right. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, however, was quickly down and saved the shot from the Switzerland player.
It turns quickly in football and right after the penalty, France was back in the game. Kylian Mbappé was played up at the edge of the 16-meter and rolled it further through to Karim Benzema. The Real Madrid striker took the chance and it was 1-1.
However, the French were not finished and a few seconds later the match was reversed. Led by Antoine Griezmann, they combined through the Swiss defense. The Barcelona player’s finish was saved, but on the return Benzema was in the right place at the right time and could easily head in his second goal of the evening.
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An insane turnaround operation by the French team, which obviously gained new energy after Hugo Lloris saved the penalty kick in front of the two goals.
Dramatic ending
The quarter before the end, it was time for another French goal. Paul Pogba got a dream hit from a distance and the ball whizzed into the corner.
Switzerland, however, refused to give up and ten minutes before the end, Seferovic arranged his second for the match. Kevin Mbabu struck and again the Swiss striker crushed all opposition in the field. Thus, there was again nerve and excitement in the sprint of this quarterfinal.
Substitute Mario Gavranovic thought for a few seconds that he had secured 3-3 when he put the ball in goal on the butt, but the score was quickly canceled out for offside.
Gavranovic still had to get his revenge and in the 90th minute he was in place and secured extra innings. France and Kingsley Coman had a ball in the crossbar at the very end of regular playing time, but it took extra time to decide the match.
France had perhaps the biggest chances in the extra innings, but Switzerland defended heroically and thus everything had to be decided from the chalk mark.
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