Germany vs France,
Euro 2016 – Semi Final
Date: Thursday, July 6, 2016
Kick-off: 20:00 UK Time
Venue: Stade Vélodrome (Marseille)
The hosts France booked their Euro 2016 semifinal date with reigning world Champions Germany at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Thursday night.
The Germans qualified for the semifinals by virtue of penalty shootout against a stubborn Italy managed by Antonio Conte. There was little to choose between the sides in a highly tactical affair that ended 1-1 after 120 minutes of football.
Germany lifted this trophy three times, a record they share with Spain for the most number of European Championship. Their latest title win was on 1996 and were the losing finalists of 2008 and were losing semifinalists of last edition. They have appeared in the final of the competition on 6 occasions, the most by any team.
France overcome dark horse Iceland 5-2 with ease to secure the semifinal spot. This was also the first game in the tournament that they looked convincing. Iceland were expected to give them a tough time, but Didier Deschamps men responded with 4 goals inside the first 45 minutes. However, they were made to pay for sloppy play in the second half as Iceland breached the French defense twice not to the liking of the home fans.
The Les Bleus were crowned UEFA Euro champions on two occasions – 1984 and 2000. They were hosts on both occasions and never made it to the finals on any other editions. They made it to the semifinals on one other occasion, during the 1996 where they lost to Czech Republic on penalties.
Germany: Team News
Joachim Low will be without the suspended Mats Hummels and injured Mario Gomez for the semifinal clash against France.
Sami Khedira, who was substituted in the first half during the quarterfinal against Italy is a doubt. While Bastian Schweinsteiger and Jerome Boateng are also struggling with fitness issues.
Germany: Predicted Line-up (4-2-3-1)
Neuer – Hector, Howedes, Boateng, Kimmich – Schweinsteiger, Kroos – Ozil, Muller, Draxler – Goetze.
France Team News
N’Golo Kante and Adil Rami returns from their one match ban and are expected to slot back into the starting line-up at the expense of Samuel Umtiti and Moussa Sissoko.
Deschamps has no injury concerns of players suspended and he will be able to tinker with the line-up as he please.
France: Predicted Line-up (4-3-3)
Lloris – Sagna, Rami, Kolscielny, Evra – Kante, Matuidi, Pogba – Payet, Greizmann, Giroud.
Germany vs France: Head-to-Head Stats
This will be the first time Germany and France are meeting in a UEFA European competition.
These two sides had met at FIFA World Cups on 4 occasions, with Germany winning the latest two, while France won the latter two, however one of which was in a penalty shootout.
Their last competitive meeting was at the quarter finals of the 2014 World Cup where Germany defeated France 1-0 courtesy of a first half goal by Mats Hummels.
France lead the overall head-to-head with 12 wins out of 27 matches between the two, while Germany were victorious in 9 and 6 were draws.
Their latest meeting was in a friendly at Stade de France in Paris on November 2015, where goals from Matuidi and Anthony Martial handed Deschamps side a 2-0 win.
Germany vs France: Predictions
This is a tough one to call considering the pedigree of France in major tournaments they host. They are known to make slow starts and grow in stature as tournament progresses and are exactly showing the same. Their quarterfinal display against Iceland is a miniature of the same, but the problems at the defense still remains. On the other hand, France are yet to face a tough opponent in the tournament. They must be at their level best to stand a chance against the Germans on Thursday night.
Germany on the other hand looked solid as ever in the quarterfinal clash against Italy. And they are a side that are not intimidated by the home crowd and doesn’t give up that easy. So expect them to give a tough tests to the hosts. This is a tournament where records keeps tumbling and this could go against the odds and I believe Germany are slight favorites to edge this one. Also, I expect to see a result at the end of 90 minutes as the last four matches between these two sides had produced results.
Full Time Prediction: Germany 2-1 France.
Tips:
- Double Chance: Germany/Draw
- Over 2.5 goals.
- Both Teams to score
