France discover their full potential in evisceration of Iceland

It was not so much a statement of intent as a scream of ambition reverberating through the Paris night. France had not scored a single goal in the first half of a match at Euro 2016 but in their quarter-final against Iceland they plundered four, more than any team in the history of this tournament has managed in 45 minutes. It was, as L’Equipe put it, ‘Almost perfect’. Almost.

The first half saw France attain a level of performance which had previously been beyond them, Didier Deschamps’ tinkering of personnel and performance preventing them from gathering any momentum. But on a drizzly night in Saint Denis, France’s multifaceted attack generated reserves of momentum of their own, Dimitri Payet, Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann combining to compelling effect and slaughtering the tournament’s surprise package.

Payet had a goal and an assist; Griezmann the same; while Giroud conjured up his most important performance in a France shirt, a stirring interpretation of the centre-forward role which brought two goals and a key role in two others as he fully earned a standing ovation from the very fans who had assailed him with boos in a pre-tournament friendly. It was a night for writing new stories.

Euro 2016 had been trundling along at 2.06 goals per game prior to this attacking feast. And a night which produced seven also felt as though it produced a new version of France under Deschamps. In that first half, aided by some poor Icelandic defending, everything finally came together in glorious technicolour. This is what the much-hyped hosts are capable of.

Deschamps, emboldened by France’s own boldness, has promised more of the same against Germany, who come next in the semi-final in Marseille on Thursday. “They had a scare against Italy in the quarter-final but other than that, they’ve been in control of all the games they’ve played,” he said. “But it won’t be a stroll in the park for them: we’ll go all out for it. We’re playing in France, our own country, and we’ll go all out for it. We have to remember anything is possible.”

It certainly seemed so in that bewitching first half. Giroud opened the scoring after 12 minutes when latching onto a high ball over the top from Blaise Matuidi and finishing smartly through the legs of Hannes Halldorsson. Paul Pogba’s booming header from a Payet corner made it two; Payet added a third when finding the bottom corner from outside the box; and Griezmann dinked a beautiful shot home for four after a straight pass from Pogba had gone through Giroud with maybe the faintest of touches.

The attacking spectacle made it almost impossible to conceive of a time in this tournament when France were struggling to break teams down. But they were - until Sunday night. Hugo Lloris addressed the problem in his press conference this week. “We’ve lacked a bit of consistency, and certainly aggression at the start of our matches,” said the captain, diagnosing the problem. “It’s very French, I’d say.” Maybe so, but the solution France discovered was positively Brazilian, or perhaps even German.

What a semi-final awaits us in Marseille. Not only did France unpack their attacking potential in eviscerating Iceland, they also exposed a soft belly in conceding twice which will give Germany plenty of material for their video analysis sessions this week.

Lesson one: hit them with crosses. Patrice Evra was unable to block one such delivery from Gylfi Sigurdsson at 4-0 up and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson nipped in ahead of debutant Samuel Umtiti to score. Pogba threw up his arms in frustration and, after Giroud’s second, Iceland repeated the trick, but this time it was Birkir Bjarnason from a Sigurdsson cross, with Evra again lacking.

The truth was that France had eased off by this point - and a showy roulette spin from Payet seconds after the restart suggested the second half might pan out to be a more relaxed affair. As Deschamps explained: "It’s never easy. We did what we needed to in the first half. We relaxed a little bit and made some substitutions, that doesn’t help things."

It could have been trickier, though. Hugo Lloris employed his expert reactions to somehow claw away an effort from Sverrir Ingeson and late on, replacement centre-back Eliaquim Mangala had to extend a leg to prevent a possible tap-in.

France’s lapses were enough for Giroud to sound a note of warning. “We're going to try and erase a few of these small defensive mistakes, because against Germany we’d pay a heavy price,” he said. “Are we confident? No, because they are the world champions and favourites. But we’d like to write another chapter in French football history.”

And you have to believe it is possible. As Iceland’s fans led their players in one final thunder clap, the ritual which bonds the two groups so powerfully, at the other end of Stade de France the French team were overseeing another act of choreography. In near perfect unison with their supporters, who have a complicated recent history with the national team, they roared and raised their hands as one to the inky sky. Bonds were forged and horizons raised when France cut loose against Iceland. Now for Germany.