Griezmann and Pogba Prove Point to Deschamps as France Late Show Downs Albania

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 16, 2016

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Hosts France became the first team to reach the latter stages of the 2016 UEFA European Championship, but Didier Deschamps’ men left it late to see off a resilient Albania side 2-0 at Stade Velodrome on Wednesday.

The big talking point pre-match was the fact that the 47-year-old tactician left Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann and Juventus’ Paul Pogba out of his starting XI, and the polemic over Deschamps’ gambles only heightened as the game wore on and remained 0-0.



Les Bleus eventually broke the deadlock in Marseille and—fittingly—it was Griezmann who put the home side in front with a header in the 90th minute of a hard-fought encounter.

The 25-year-old met an Adil Rami ball in the air and guided his header past Etrit Berisha in the Albanian goal to send the Velodrome crowd into ecstasy.

West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet—arguably France’s best performer over the 90 minutes—scored a delightful second with the last kick of the game, but it was Griezmann who ultimately made the difference.

Speaking with journalists after the final whistle, Deschamps praised plucky Albania and conceded that it took his players longer than expected to get going.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup- and Euro 2000-winning former captain also insisted that his decision to leave Griezmann and Pogba out was tactical and not punishment for disappointing displays in the 2-1 win over Romania in the opening match of Euro 2016.

Deschamps also reserved special credit for Payet after two late goals in his last two games for his country:

Albania played with a lot of heart and spirit. They defended well and have the ability to counterattack. We might have scored earlier; we had a lot of chances. While it was goalless it was a good result for Albania. It's always difficult against teams that keep it tight. Once we finally got going we let l...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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