France into next round as Switzerland takes a step nearer

“Once again I made the difference and I’ve known for a while that my island (reunion) is right behind me and there is fervent support for Les Bleus. That was the case in the opening match and again tonight”.

Griezmann broke dogged Albanian resistance with a deft header in the final minute and Dimitri Payet grabbed the second goal deep into stoppage time after claiming a late victor in France’s opening victory over Romania last Friday.

After a poor performance in the Euro 2016 opener against Romania, the Juventus midfielder was benched by Didier Deschamps for France’s second group game.

Leaving it late is not ideal – certainly not for frayed French nerves, including those of French President Francois Hollande, who jumped out of his seat and thrust his arms in the air when Griezmann scored.

Euro 2016 – Group A preview: An easy ride for France?

One man who has starred in both games is Payet with the West Ham man rapidly becoming France’s main attacking threat.

He was France’s creative force and is fast forging a reputation as both a supplier of chances and a finisher of lethal quality.

“This is a talented generation of players, with the likes of Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri likely to be around for a good few tournaments yet, and a wealth of impressive youngsters coming through also bodes well”, says Eurosport. ‘He’s always had ability and a lot of confidence.

They gave their hosts the odd scare or two, notably early on in the second-half when Ledian Memushaj hit the post.

The ball rebounded to the floored striker but he knew little about it as it bounced off his head and narrowly wide.

Switzerland will face France in Lille on Sunday, pursuing the points to guarantee its place in the knockout stage.

Romania led Switzerland 1-0 at halftime thanks to Bogdan Stancu’s penalty after Switzerland captain Stephan Lichsteiner had pulled the shirt of Alexandru Chipciu in the area.

Admir Mehmedi did eventually get the goals the Swiss deserved with 30 minutes remaining. We can beat Romania to qualify.

After beating Romania 2-1 and Albania 2-0, France topped Group A with six points, followed by Switzerland with four points, Romania one and Albania none.

The result allowed Jan Kozak’s team to bounce back from an opening 2-1 defeat to Wales and leaves Russian Federation languishing at the bottom of the group with just one point from two games. Midfielders Marek Hamsik and Vladimir Weiss combined for their team’s goals.

But despite creating a host of scoring chances against Balkan minnows Albania in a stirring second half on Wednesday, the game looked set for a surprise draw.

“Until the final whistle is blown there is still a chance to win the game, especially against teams who you have to wear down”, he said.

Today’s matches will see Wales vs England at 6:30 pm, Northern Ireland vs Ukraine at 9:30 pm and Germany vs Poland at 12:30 am.