Hosts
France qualified for the semifinals after bursting Iceland’s bubble
with a 5-2 victory while Germany finally defeated Italy in a major
tournament albeit on penalties and setup a mouth watering second
semifinal where the winners will be odds on favourites to lift the
trophy. The game will be played on Thursday night, 07 July 2016 at the
Stade Velodrome in Marseille and it will kickoff at 09:00 p.m local
time.
Germany-France is a very balanced match and looking at the recent history, France is one team, Germans don’t like playing against. Sine 1990 France has got the better of Germany for most part winning 6, drawing 2 and losing just 1. But that one defeat came back in the 2014 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal. Last time these two meet was back in November 2015 in Paris when the city was rocked by terrorist attacks.
Antoine Griezmann is one player Germany can not let lose, he has already scored 4 goals in the tournament and will be hunting golden boot while Dimitri Payet and Paul Pogba also offer greater attacking threat than any of the teams Italy has faced so far.
France will be confident after their incredible 5-2 win over Iceland
and important players like Giroud, Pogba and Griezmann got onto the
scoresheet. However Didier Deschamp will have some selection worries
whether to start with N’Golo Kante or keep the fluid midfield with
Blaise Matuidi and Moussa Sissoko. Adil Rami is set to return replacing
Samuel Umtiti while rest of the team should remain the same.
Germany on the other hand has injury crises with only recognized striker Mario Gomez ruled out for rest of the tournament while Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khadira are both doubtful. Matts Hummels is also suspended and will miss the semifinal leaving Joachim Löw to improvise with his selection.
Germany has looked in control for most part in the tournament even against Italy they should have won it in normal time but a crazy handball by Jerome Boeteng paved the way back for Italy. Having said that France will pose greater attacking threat specially playing in their own backyard plus Germans will be without several key players which makes this game a 50/50.
Match Predictions: Playing at home can help the team and also put unnecessary pressure, France will be hoping to use home support to their advantage against World Champions Germany who regardless of the opponents play their natural free flowing game and defend higher on the pitch. If France start with Payet, Giroud and Griezmann upfront they will be playing into the hands of Germany because of the lack of pace. Unless France start with either Martial or Coman I can’t see them troubling Germany back four. I am going with a 2-1 win for Germany in this one.
Germany-France is a very balanced match and looking at the recent history, France is one team, Germans don’t like playing against. Sine 1990 France has got the better of Germany for most part winning 6, drawing 2 and losing just 1. But that one defeat came back in the 2014 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal. Last time these two meet was back in November 2015 in Paris when the city was rocked by terrorist attacks.
Antoine Griezmann is one player Germany can not let lose, he has already scored 4 goals in the tournament and will be hunting golden boot while Dimitri Payet and Paul Pogba also offer greater attacking threat than any of the teams Italy has faced so far.
Griezmann four goals in the tournament put him top of the goal scoring charts
Germany on the other hand has injury crises with only recognized striker Mario Gomez ruled out for rest of the tournament while Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khadira are both doubtful. Matts Hummels is also suspended and will miss the semifinal leaving Joachim Löw to improvise with his selection.
Germany has looked in control for most part in the tournament even against Italy they should have won it in normal time but a crazy handball by Jerome Boeteng paved the way back for Italy. Having said that France will pose greater attacking threat specially playing in their own backyard plus Germans will be without several key players which makes this game a 50/50.
Match Predictions: Playing at home can help the team and also put unnecessary pressure, France will be hoping to use home support to their advantage against World Champions Germany who regardless of the opponents play their natural free flowing game and defend higher on the pitch. If France start with Payet, Giroud and Griezmann upfront they will be playing into the hands of Germany because of the lack of pace. Unless France start with either Martial or Coman I can’t see them troubling Germany back four. I am going with a 2-1 win for Germany in this one.
