France beat Portugal on penalties to reach Euro 2024 semi-finals

HAMBURG – France coach Didier Deschamps savoured seeing his side win a penalty shoot-out for the first time since the 1998 World Cup as they beat Portugal in their Euro 2024 quarter-final on July 5 after another difficult night for star man Kylian Mbappe.

“It’s been a long time,” Deschamps said after France beat Portugal 5-3 on penalties following a 0-0 draw at the end of extra time at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.

“It was a very hard game. We knew how good Portugal were, and both sides could have won. It was a bit more difficult for us in extra time, maybe because we were tired and they had a lot more of the ball. But we kept calm, and those who took penalties took them well.”

France lost the 2022 World Cup final on penalties to Argentina and also went out of the last European Championship three years ago in a shoot-out against Switzerland in the last 16.

Also beaten by Italy on penalties in the 2006 World Cup final, this was France’s first win in a shoot-out since they defeated the Italians in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup, where Deschamps was a player.

Ousmane Dembele, Youssouf Fofana, Jules Kounde and Bradley Barcola all scored penalties for France before Theo Hernandez converted the decisive kick. Only Joao Felix missed his spot kick for Portugal.

“I am proud of my players. Even if we are not doing everything perfectly we don’t give up and, once again, we are in the semi-finals,” Deschamps said.

France are into a fourth semi-final in the last five major tournaments and will now face Spain in the last four in Munich on July 9.

Deschamps’ team have made it this far despite scoring only three goals in five matches – one a penalty by Mbappe and the other two from own goals.

Mbappe, again wearing a mask to protect his nose that was broken against Austria in France’s opening game, struggled against Portugal and was not involved in the penalty shoot-out, having been taken off midway through extra time.

“He was beginning to really feel it... and it got to the point where he no longer felt able to accelerate,” Deschamps said. “Given that he is not as fit as he would like to be, plus he has had a back problem and the injury to his nose, he is hanging in there. He knows he is not on his best form and, with all the effort he put in, he was very tired.”

France’s problems in front of goal have been offset by a defence that has let in just one goal, which was a penalty in the 1-1 draw with Poland in the group stage.

Deschamps nevertheless admitted that his team need to improve in attack. He said: “Our solidity is exemplary, and that is essential in a major tournament. When you are not scoring many goals it is better that you don’t concede any, but I would prefer us to be more clinical.”

Also wishing his team were more prolific in their quarter-final was Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, who said the Euro 2016 champions “deserved to win” against the 2018 World Cup winners.

“Today was a great game, an amazing performance. Tonight is not the night to look at errors, the only mistake is that the ball did not go in,” Martinez, who pledged his side would come back stronger, told Sport TV.

“(We showed we are) a team that can suffer, but want to win for the fans. We lost, but with pride, in the Portuguese style of giving everything.

“Our players will grow a lot from this experience. The personality, the chances, how we created danger in the final third – it was a performance that makes us look to the future with great pride.”

The Spaniard praised 41-year-old defender Pepe, the oldest player in the tournament’s history, and 39-year-old attacker Cristiano Ronaldo, the competition’s all-time top goalscorer with 14 strikes. Both players were expected to quit the national team after this Euro.

“He was a warrior... what Pepe did today and in the tournament was exemplary,” added Martinez. “We just finished the game, everything is still too raw. We’re suffering a defeat as a team, there are no individual decisions at this point.” AFP