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A fascinating six-goal thriller between France and Switzerland was decided on penalties, with the Swiss going through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2020.
Injuries sustained by Lucas Digne and Lucas Hernandez against Portugal forced Les Bleus boss Didier Deschamps into changing his system. France lined up in a three-man defense, with Clement Lenglet making his first appearance of the tournament.
Switzerland went ahead in the 15th minute when the impressive Steven Zuber sent a delightful cross into the box for Haris Seferovic to glance home.
France struggled to get going in the first half, with Yann Sommer rarely tested in the Swiss goal.
Deschamps took off the ineffective Lenglet at halftime and reverted to a more traditional back four. But the second half started in the worst possible way for the world champions.
Steven Zuber had been running rings around the French defenders throughout the first half. His trickery proved too much for Benjamin Pavard who felled him in the area seven minutes after the restart.
The referee initially waved play on but reversed his decision after consulting with the pitchside monitor.
Ricardo Rodriguez stepped up to take the spot-kick, with Hugo Lloris pulling off an excellent save to deny the Torino defender. Switzerland were made to pay for their profligacy in the space of two minutes.
Karim Benzema drew France level as he headed home from close range after Antoine Griezmann's shot had been parried into his path by Sommer. Two minutes later, the Real Madrid striker put his side ahead. He showed great technique to round a defender and slot home just before the hour mark.
This sparked France into life as they dominated proceedings, with Paul Pogba scoring the goal of the night. The Manchester United star blasted a rocket into the top corner from 25 yards in the 75th minute.
The goal was of such immense quality that it gave Swiss custodian Sommer no chance.
A two-goal lead with just 15 minutes to go had seemingly put Les Bleus through to the quarter-finals. But as the Croatia-Spain game showed us earlier in the day, anything can happen in football.
Haris Seferovic gave Switzerland hope when he halved the deficit in the 81st minute. With nine minutes to go, the Swiss smelled blood and had the ball in the back of the net again. But Mario Gavranovic was adjudged offside by the slimmest of margins.
The Dinamo Zagreb man was, however, not to be denied as he forced extra-time with a brilliantly taken goal in the 90th minute. He was played through by Granit Xhaka.
There was still time for Kingsley Coman to strike the post with the last kick of regular time. The six-goal thriller had everything from missed penalties to spectacular goals in the 90 minutes.
Extra-time was a less intense affair, understandable given the immense levels of energy both teams had exerted. But France still managed to carve out some decent chances.
The two sides could not be separated after two hours of breathtaking football. This ensured that we witnessed the first penalty shootout of Euro 2020.
The first nine takers were perfect but Kylian Mbappe fluffed his lines to send France packing. Switzerland will take on Spain in the quarter-finals on Friday.
This is the first time that Switzerland have reached the quarter-final stage of a major tournament in 57 years.
Here are five talking points from the dramatic game in Bucharest.
#5 France bow out of Euro 2020 without a whimper
France came into Euro 2020 as joint-favorites to win the tournament alongside Belgium.
The world champions are well-stocked in every department and would have been looking to go one better than their second-place finish on home soil five years ago.
Despite being drawn into the group of death, France were still tipped to come good. It proved to be the case as they topped a group that also had Germany and Portugal.
However, the French side were far from convincing in any of their three group stage games. They needed an own goal to see off Germany, flattered to deceive against Hungary and were arguably lucky to have nicked a draw against Portugal.
The game against Switzerland offered France an opportunity to hit second gear. But a poor start to the game had the world champions rocking.
There was a brief 30-minute period between their three goals when France looked assured in their play. The front three of Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema worked in tandem. Paul Pogba, meanwhile, effortlessly played defence-splitting passes behind them.
However, that was as good as it got in the tournament for the two-time European champions.
Just one good half in four matches is nowhere near good enough for a side boasting as much world-class talent as France.
The tournament favorites have been eliminated from Euro 2020 knowing they did not bring their A-game.
#4 Dogged Switerland defy expectations to produce the upset of the tournament
Switzerland, who have some quality players in their squad, were ranked by many to be among the dark horses of the tournament.
However, the Alpine side are far from being considered an elite side. While they have just a handful of players playing at the highest levels, the French squad is filled with world-class players from front to back.
Given how dramatic Euro 2020 has been to date, it can be argued that no genuine upset was produced in the group stage.
Hungary being minutes away from eliminating Germany threatened to create unbelievable headlines. But the four-time world champion ultimately came through.
The Czech Republic eliminating the Netherlands on Sunday might have been a little unexpected. But it does not match the giant-killing that Switzerland produced in Romania against France.
The manner in which Vladimir Petkovic's side attained the shock result was even more thrilling. Having started the game brightly, Switzerland were handed a golden opportunity to go two goals up but failed to take it.
France subsequently turned the game on its head and were so dominant in the next 15 minutes that the Swiss struggled to get out of their blocks.
Their tournament was seemingly over with just 10 minutes to go but a resilient display from the Swiss ensured they clawed back to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
So far, this ranks as the upset of the tournament. Kudos to Switzerland for holding their heads up when it would have been easy to lose composure against a superior side.
Also Read: David James column - Euro 2020: 5 players who could be X-factors in the knockout stages
#3 Karim Benzema's heroics not enough for underwhelming France
Karim Benzema ended his six-year absence from the international scene when he was named in France's Euro 2020 squad.
The Real Madrid man has been the most in-form French striker over the last few years. But he was frozen out by Didier Deschamps due to off-field issues.
Having earned a recall, the 33-year-old struggled to get going initially. He even missed a penalty against Wales, his first game for France in six years.
However, Benzema's quality came through with a brace in the thrilling 2-2 draw with Portugal. Incredibly, those were his first goals in the European Championship.
He continued from where he left off with a quickfire brace against Switzerland to put France ahead and seemingly on their way to the last eight.
However, Karim Benzema's superb output was not enough to power his side to victory. France meekly surrendered their two-goal advantage to disappointingly crash out of the tournament.
Benzema's night also ended on a sour note when he was substituted just four minutes into extra-time after seemingly suffering a muscle injury.
#2 Paul Pogba's form for France continues to belie his performances for Manchester United
Paul Pogba gave another immaculate display in the middle of the park for France. He even crowned his performance with a contender for goal of the tournament.
Before scoring the worldie, the former Juventus man had been the mastermind behind France's domination midway through the second half. His vision was on full display on several occasions.
Pogba constantly sliced open the Swiss defense with pristine through balls. He could have ended the night with a couple of assists if not for some poor finishing.
In many ways, this is the player Manchester United broke the bank to sign in 2016. One of the most enigmatic questions in recent years has been why the 28-year-old is a different player in the colors of France.
Several reasons have been given as to why this is the case. But after another underwhelming club campaign, Pogba has again reminded everybody of his immense abilities on the international scene.
There was, however, another aspect of his game that was in full glare, which is his tendency to overplay with the ball in dangerous positions. This proved to be the case when Pogba's pocket was picked near the halfway line in the lead-up to Switzerland's third goal.
Despite the major blip, it cannot be argued that Paul Pogba was one of just a few French players to emerge from Euro 2020 with any credit. This begs a serious question as to why he cannot replicate this form with Manchester United.
Also Read: Seven greatest Brazilian defenders of all-time
#1 Kylian Mbappe caps off underwhelming tournament with crucial penalty miss
Kylian Mbappe is widely regarded as football's torchbearer to lead the next generation after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi depart the scene.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward has done justice to this moniker with his displays over the last few years. But he will not look back on Euro 2020 with any fondness.
Mbappe was one of several players representing France that failed to perform at the level expected in the tournament.
The 22-year-old, who completed every second of France's ultimately unsuccessful tournament, failed to find the back of the net across four games.
It was not for a lack of chances and several presentable opportunities fell to the former Monaco man, especially in the game against Switzerland.
A surprisingly profligate Mbappe failed to take any of them. In many ways, his penalty miss in the shootout was a thorough reflection of the poor tournament he had.
Also Read: Six greatest players who never received an international cap
