France to beat Portugal on penalties to face Spain in semi-finals

France reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024 on Friday thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Portugal at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, where Joao Felix’s shot on the post proved fatal for the Portuguese.

Les Bleus will be Spain’s opponents for a place in the EURO final in Germany next Tuesday, and Luis de la Fuente’s side were waiting for their opponents shortly before, having eliminated the hosts in extra time (2-1). Later, despite a flat performance and few chances, France sealed the victory in the penalty shootout, Felix missing and Theo Hernandez’s final strike.

There were no surprises in Hamburg. Portugal and France’s bad version of the tournament was revealed in the second round of the quarter-finals, there were practically no chances despite 120 minutes played. In the first half, nothing was clear: the Portuguese had a little more ball, but no depth, as in other games.

As Antoine Griezmann once again pointed out, in France, where there is almost no attacking option, no space to run and no ideas in positional play, the fear of not fitting in can also be felt in France. After the break, the game became somewhat livelier thanks to Mbappe’s first shot, which was central and easy for the opposing goalkeeper. Shortly after, the new Real Madrid striker suffered a broken nose.

The Parisian striker took the hit and, despite his mask, was clearly suffering from the misfortune that had hampered him in Germany. Then came Portugal’s moment: two superb strikes from Maignan prevented Bruno Fernandes and then Vitinho from scoring. Didier Deschamps looked for a solution and brought in Ousmane Dembele.

The PSG player, formerly of Barcelona, ​​was the perfect agitator and monopolised the French attacking play down the right flank with constant overloads and threats, but Portugal defended well. Chances began to appear and Camavinga was 0-1 for France close to goal until Roberto Martinez brought Conceicao onto the pitch, also scoring a dagger from the right flank.

In short, extra time was inevitable, as another attempt to take the lead left the choice to Leao, who was miraculously selected by Upamecano, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who did not want to say goodbye, although he could not change anything. In the second act of extra time, Deschamps sent off Mbappe, a sign that his star had also faded, and Martinez sent on Joao Felix, who made a dangerous header.

As the clock ticked down to penalties, both teams felt the need to attack and there was no time left to fix a penalty shootout that could have brought back better memories for the Portuguese. After beating Slovenia on penalties with the superb Diogo Costa, the Portugal goalkeeper could not stop anything this time and Felix’s mistake sent France into the semi-finals on Tuesday.