France
Euro 2020: Spain eliminate Croatia in eight-goal thriller
Spain held off a remarkable Croatian fightback to win 5-3 in a pulsating Euro 2020 last 16 knockout match on Monday thanks to goals from Alvaro Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal in extra time. The three-times European champions will now face either France or Switzerland on July 2 in St. Petersburg Spain and Croatia were drawing 3-3 after normal time, with the goals starting when goalkeeper Unai Simon failed disastrously to control a simple back-pass to give Croatia a shock 1-0 lead. Spain looked like they had made amends with goals from Pablo Sarabia, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ferran Torres to go 3-1 up, until Mislav Orsic scored in the 85th minute and Mario Pasalic netted two minutes into stoppage time to level for Croatia. Spain’s goals in extra time came after Simon had made a point blank save to ...
La Liga duo and Man Utd man impress, but young superstar disappoints – France 3-3 Switzerland Player Ratings
Switzerland pulled off a huge upset as they defeated France in a thrilling round of 16 fixture on penalties. The World Cup champions squandered a glorious chance to take the lead in the second minute. Antoine Griezmann’s corner found the head of Raphael Varane, but he skied his effort over the crossbar. And he was made to pay for his miss not long afterwards when Switzerland took a shock lead. Steven Zuber lifted a cross into the box, and Haris Seferovic beat Clement Lenglet to the ball and planted his header into the bottom corner. Les Bleus were struggling to find a way through the Swiss defence in the first half, coming closest with a long distance strike from Adrien Rabiot that whistled just past the post. But they were unable to get a goal, and the half time whistle went with the scor...
Jersey extends licences for EU fishing boats
The government of Jersey, a self-governing Channel Island between France and Britain, said Monday that it had extended a transitional fishing agreement with the European Union allowing EU boats to continue operating in its waters for three months. “The EU has recently requested an extension to the transitional arrangements, which had been due to come to an end on 30 June,” a statement from the Jersey government said, adding that “Jersey ministers have agreed to that request.” Jersey lies just off France’s northern coast and access to its rich waters has become a source of friction since Britain’s departure from the EU on January 1 tore up arrangements for fishing in the Channel. To gain new licences, Jersey has insisted that EU boats hand over proof that they have been operating in its wat...
Euro 2020: Knockout games bring the best out of France – Hugo Lloris
A depleted France will draw motivation from the threat of elimination as they prepare to face Switzerland in their European Championship last-16 match, captain Hugo Lloris said on Sunday. World champions France topped Group F with one win and two draws ahead of Portugal and Germany but key players in their backline have picked up injuries to give coach Didier Deschamps a selection headache on Monday. While Ousmane Dembele and Marcus Thuram are unavailable, Deschamps confirmed full backs Jules Kounde and Lucas Digne are also ruled out against the Swiss. Left back Lucas Hernandez, who injured his knee, has a chance to feature. Speaking at a news conference, goalkeeper Lloris said France – who finished runners-up in 2016 – were accustomed to do-or-die situations and thrived under pressure. “W...
Manchester United man leads Euro 2020 Best XI while Ronaldo leads from the front
The Euro 2020 group stages have come to a close, and it’s just a short wait before the knockout rounds begin. The opening two weeks of action have been nothing short of enthralling. We’ve seen some incredible goals, great drama, and an inexplicable amount of own goals. What’s not to love? Here is our best XI from the group stage. Lukas Hradecky (GK) – Hradecky can count himself unlucky to be going home early, having put in some excellent performances in the last three games. He kicked off his tournament with a crucial penalty save in the 1-0 win over Denmark and followed this up with another good performance in the 1-0 defeat against Russia. His final game was impressive but ended in heartbreak. He made several brilliant stops to keep Belgium at bay but scored an unlucky own goal to s...
1 from Portugal, 1 from France, 2 from Netherlands – Euro 2020 Best XI of Round 3
The group stage has come to an end, and now we have to endure two whole days without Euro 2020 action. How will we cope? At least the groups ended on a cracker, with several exceptional performances from the final round of fixtures. Here is our best XI from round three of Euro 2020. Lukas Hradecky (GK) – It feels a bit bizarre to include someone who scored an own goal, but here we are. Hradecky kept Finland in the game for as long as possible, producing several excellent stops to keep Belgium out before being cruelly robbed of his clean sheet. Nelson Semedo (RB) – The selection of right-backs from the latest round of fixtures was somewhat slim, but Nelson Semedo gets in for a solid performance. He got a lot of criticism for his performance against Germany, and many feared that it...
Ronaldo makes history, Man Utd and Real Madrid stars impress – Portugal 2-2 France Player Ratings
Portugal and France both progressed to the knockout stages of Euro 2020 after an entertaining 2-2 draw. The first chance of the evening fell to Kylian Mbappe. The youngster was played through on goal by an excellent Paul Pogba through ball, but his finish was underwhelming for a player of his standards. From then on, it was a half soaked in controversy, beginning when Portugal were awarded a penalty in the 28th minute. Danilo Pereira got his head to a cross and was caught by the arm of Hugo Lloris on the follow through. Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz pointed to the spot, despite protests from French players. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and slammed his penalty past Lloris. Just before half time, more controversy arose when France were given a penalty. Mbappe went down under contact from Nelso...
Man Loses Hand Following Clash Between Ravers and Police in France
A violent clash between police and attendees of a rave in France has left one man with a severed hand. It took nearly 400 officers a total of nearly seven hours to disperse the crowds of the 1,500-person rave. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, mass gatherings are still illegal in France. Advertised on social media, the event still turned out a sizable crowd to the Redon, Brittany region. According to Sky News, police showed up in riot gear and deployed tear gas in an attempt to disperse the gathering. Attendees began to pelt officers with explosives, including Molotov cocktails and firecrackers. One such explosive caused serious injury to a 22-year-old man. Overall, five officers were injured in the conflict, two of whom were hospitalized. Two attendees, including the ...
Canada leads call on China to allow Xinjiang access – statement
More than 40 countries urged China on Tuesday to allow the U.N. human rights chief immediate access to Xinjiang region to look into reports that more than a million people have been unlawfully detained there, some subjected to torture or forced labour. The joint statement on China was read out by Canadian Ambassador Leslie Norton on behalf of countries including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the United States to the U.N. Human Rights Council. Beijing denies all allegations of abuse of Uyghurs and describes the camps as vocational training facilities to combat religious extremism. “Credible reports indicate that over a million people have been arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang and that there is widespread surveillance disproportionately targeting Uyghurs and members of other...
Chad accuses CAR of killing six of its soldiers
The Chad government on Monday accused the Central African Republic (CAR) of killing six of its soldiers in an attack on an outpost in the south of the country. “The Central African armed forces attacked the outpost of Sourou in Chad on Sunday morning … killed a Chad soldier, injured five and kidnapped five others who were then executed in Mbang on the Central African Republic side,” Chad’s Foreign Minister Cherif Mahamat Zene said in a statement. The CAR regularly accuses its northern neighbour of supporting armed rebel groups from inside Chad. The identity of the alleged CAR rebels is yet to be confirmed but a senior Chad security official told AFP news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the rebels were members of Unity for Peace in Central Africa (UPC). The UPC is one of CA...
French far right irked by election results, southern region in play
France’s far right performed worse than predicted in Sunday’s regional elections, exit polls showed, leaving victory in the southern battleground of Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur and a platform for the 2022 presidential election in the balance. Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National expressed frustration at a record low turnout,as the centre right made its first comeback at the ballot box since a disastrous showing in the 2017 presidential election and President Emmanuel Macron’s party finished fifth. The high abstention rate in Sunday’s first-round vote, projected at 68.5% by pollster Elabe, coincided with a sunny Sunday and emergence from months of tough COVID-19 curbs. “This evening the government won because for the last few weeks it has been in search of a massive abstention rate,” said ...
Antoine Griezmann: Karim Benzema will end goal drought soon
Karim Benzema needs just one goal to get up and running for France again, says team-mate Antoine Griezmann. The striker approached Euro 2020 off the back of an excellent season at Real Madrid, having scored 30 goals in 46 matches, but Benzema is yet to find the net since making his return to the France squad after a six-year absence. Griezmann is confident the 33-year-old will start scoring regularly for Les Bleus before long, insisting he just needs one to get him going. “I think each attacker wants to score the first goal and the quicker he does that, the better it is for everybody,” Griezmann said at a press conference. “As soon as Karim gets one in the net, that will help him. We just need to be patient and remain confident. “You know me, I feel a lot better in the centre, I feel a lot...
