L’attitude d’Ousmane Dembélé face aux tirs au but de la France en dit long sur ses chances à l’Euro 2024.

L’attitude d’Ousmane Dembélé face aux tirs au but de la France en dit long sur ses chances à l’Euro 2024.

PORTUGAL 0-0 FRANCE (3-5 aux tirs au but) : João Félix a été le bouc émissaire du Portugal alors que la France a décroché sa place dans le dernier carré avec cinq tirs au but parfaits à Hambourg

Dembele scored the first of France’s penalties (Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
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ByMark JonesSports Features Editor, in Germany
09:11, 6 Jul 2024
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Ousmane Dembele insists he was always confident goal-shy France would get the better of Portugal despite their dreadful recent penalty shootout record – even though some of the players stepping up had never taken a spot kick before.

France set up a last four meeting with Spain at the Euros after pipping the Portuguese in Hamburg, where Joao Felix’s strike against the post proved crucial. Didier Deschamps’ side scored a perfect five out of five from the spot just days after Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa had saved all three Slovenia kicks he faced in the last-16 shootout.

The win marked France’s first penalty success since they beat Italy en route to winning the 1998 World Cup, when Deschamps was captain. It was a sorry run which had included defeats in the 2006 and 2022 World Cup finals and elimination from Euro 2020 at the hands of Switzerland.

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With Kylian Mbappe off the pitch still struggling with the after-effects of the broken nose he suffered in France’s first match against Austria, it was livewire substitute Dembele – who admitted he was “stung” not to start the game – who took their first kick.

He slotted home effortlessly, and said he always felt he would do. “We had practised penalties and felt confident going into them,” said Dembele.

“The Qatar World Cup final loss helped us in that respect. I think we all took the goalkeeper by surprise because we sent him the wrong way.”

Dembele was always confident France would prevail ( Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
In contrast to their coolness from the spot, France have scored just three goals in their five games in Germany, with two of those being own goals scored by the opposition and the third a penalty netted by Mbappe against Poland. But an unrepentant Dembele isn’t concerned.

“That’s how it is,” he said. “We play like that, those who are not happy, that’s not my problem.

“We’ve scored three goals but we are here in the semi-finals. It is the solidity of this team that means we are still here today.”

As he seeks to solve the problems in front of goal, Deschamps might have just found some unlikely goalscorers.

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As well as Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann had also been substituted against Portugal, while Olivier Giroud wasn’t introduced from the bench in time.

That all made for a fairly inexperienced set of penalty takers, with defender Jules Kounde and 21-year-old attacker Bradley Barcola having never taken a senior competitive penalty before either in matches or shootouts.

For Barcelona defender Kounde the fact that Spain are up next makes the victory all the sweeter. “I’m looking forward to it. There will be some familiar faces against me. I’m happy they’ve qualified,” he said.

France will now face Spain in the semi-finals ( Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“They’re playing well and have a team that is both capable of holding possession and taking it without giving it up. Above all, we’ll have to recover well after this tough match.

“They’ll be a playful opponent, and they like to exploit space and with dangerous wingers, including Lamine Yamal, who I know well. They’re a complete team. We’ll have to bring the same intensity. And score.”

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Pep Guardiola is watching tennis action at Wimbledon on Saturday, joining a host of football, cricket and Olympic stars in the Royal Box at Centre Court.

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LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 06: Pep Guardiola and Leah Williamson attend day six of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 06, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Guardiola was announced to the Centre Court crowd alongside England Women’s captain Leah Williamson.
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Pep Guardiola’s name was playfully booed as he took his seat at Wimbledon on Saturday.

Guardiola was one of a host of sporting stars watching Centre Court from the Royal Box as he enjoyed his penultimate weekend of the summer before Manchester City return for pre-season next week.

And according to BBC Sport, when Guardiola took his seat and City’s four consecutive Premier League titles with Manchester City were announced, there were a ‘few boos’ from the crowd on Centre Court ahead of the clash between Brit Cameron Norrie and German Alexander Zverev. There were also plenty of cheers in a good-natured atmosphere.

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Guardiola attended the All England Club alongside wife Cristina, and was present alongside former England manager Roy Hodgson – the pair holding a strong relationship from their battles in the Premier League over recent seasons. England women’s captain Leah Williamson was also in the Royal Box, alongside England cricket trio Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler – plus India legend Sachin Tendulkar.

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A range of Olympic legends including Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Jason Kenney, Dame Laura Kenny, Sir Ben Ainslie, Adam Peaty, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean were in the royal box, along with Paralympic athletes Hannah Cockroft and Kadeena Cox. Rugby Union’s Lawrence Dallaglio and Sir Gareth Edwards took their seats in a star-studded, sporting-themed group.

Guardiola has often spoken of his love for tennis, describing the final three points needed to win a title similar to the Championship point at Wimbledon being the toughest point to win. He has often described City’s battles with Liverpool as like the three-way battle between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, with each rival pushing the other to be better.

He spoke this year of Federer and Nadal being his inspirations, saying: “There is one detail that defines them, it is how hard they work. People believing when you are on top of any sport, it is [due to] talents and skills. But what would define [them] is they work harder than the other ones, they prepare better than the other ones. They are the best.

“They are never satisfied and how they accept the bad moments or the defeats like it’s normal in life, in a sport and how to win the games and how they accept they are nervous or they are playing bad, how they come back immediately.”

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