The 25-year-old striker, who stands 1.76 metres tall, caught the eye on the big stage against Germany, driving home a penalty at the end of the first half before poking in the ball on 72 minutes following a rare blunder by Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Didier Deschamps has let his hair go grey naturally since the last time he picked up a European title 16 years ago. The diminutive Deschamps was never a spectacular player -- a la Zinedine Zidane -- and certainly does not belong to the Jose Mourinho school of coaching with sensational sound bites. But the unglamorous Frenchman with the twangy voice has been instrumental in taking the host nation through to Sunday's Euro 2016 final against Portugal.
Stan Wawrinka reached his second final of the season as Nick Kyrgios retired injured from their semi-final at the ATP Dubai Championships on Friday. The Australian quit due to back pain while trailing 6-4, 3-0, having had on-court treatment after the seventh game of the opening set. Wawrinka now moves into position for a possible second trophy of the season after winning in Chennai to start the year. The French Open champion will face either sixth seed Feliciano Lopez, who advanced in the quarter-finals when Novak Djokovic was unable to continue due to an eye infections or former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis. Wawrinka, ranked fourth, carries an enviable record into the Saturday title match at the Aviation Club, having won his last eight finals.
Antoine Griezmann had plenty of painful memories to erase in Thursday's European Championship semi-final against Germany and he did that in style, scoring twice to lead the host nation to an historic 2-0 victory over the world champions.
The British number one will play Croatian Donna Vekic, 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(4) victor over Czech Lucie Safarova in the day's second semi-final, in the climax to the Wimbledon warm-up tournament on Sunday.
Former Arsenal and France midfielder Robert Pires, a member of France's 1998 World Cup-winning squad, has announced his retirement from football at the age of 42.
Hosts France have sealed the last semi-final spot and will meet World Champions Germany in a mouth-watering clash at Marseille. In another showdown, giant-killers' Wales inspired by their hero Gareth Bale will take on Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal at Lyon. Rediff.com takes a closer look at the four semi-finalists as the fight for European glory reaches it's business end.
France's players immediately turned their minds to a semi-final with Germany on Thursday after putting Iceland to the sword in a 5-2 win at Euro 2016.
France decimated Iceland in a 5-2 win to end the Nordic nations Euro 2016 dream run in the quarter-final on Sunday.
Poland midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak has signed a five-year contract with Paris St Germain, the French champions said in a statement on Sunday.
Germany's younger generation can rightfully feel they are the ones to be trusted when the world champions line up for a Euro 2016 semi-final next week after they stood up to be counted in the country's first tournament victory over Italy on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Portugal continue to be a paradox at Euro 2016, reaching the semi-finals without ever giving the kind of uplifting performance that their talented team should be capable of.
A superb shootout save by Portugal's Rui Patricio allowed Ricardo Quaresma to be the hero again as his spot kick against Poland sent them into the Euro 2016 semi-finals 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 finish following extra time.
It is a measure of the importance of captain Robert Lewandowski to Poland that the striker is the first name coach Adam Nawalka writes on the team sheet despite his goal drought at Euro 2016. Most forwards who go more than 10 hours without scoring would be warming the bench and facing criticism from the media and fans. But the Bayern Munich striker will be a key part of Poland's efforts to defeat Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in Thursday's quarter-final in Marseille. After scoring 13 goals in the qualifying, Lewandowski's statistics in his first four games in France make disappointing reading: no goals, two attempts on target, three attempts off target and three blocked attempts.
Poland have an impressive defensive record at Euro 2016 but standing in their way to a semi-final spot is arguably one of sport's greatest-ever athletes, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Substitute Ricardo Quaresma turned in three minutes from the end of extra time as Portugal edged a tense encounter to book a UEFA Euro 2016 quarter-final date with Poland. After 116 minutes in which the teams failed to muster a single shot on target, Ivan Perisic headed against the upright.
Euro 2016's round of 16 gets under way on Saturday after the completion of the group stages. With shocks aplenty, we saw some major upsets and heartbreaks in the preliminary round. Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com takes a look at the top five disappointments of Euro 2016 so far...
Jakub Blaszczykowski's goal gave Poland a 1-0 win over Ukraine in their final Euro 2016 Group C match on Tuesday and sent them into the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time.
Chelsea's Guus Hiddink believed his side could qualify for next season's Champions League with a top-four finish but he has now virtually written off their chances.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
French riot police charged and used tear gas to disperse rowdy English football fans in Lille on Wednesday, though the northern city was spared feared clashes with Russian supporters.
From sharp, flying tackles and tough possession-fights, bloodied noses to scissor kicks in attempt to finding those crucial goals and the ecstatic celebrations thereafter, Rediff.com gives you a quick rewind of all the excitement that has transpired over the last five days across France...
It has been a tortuous journey for France's Patrice Evra, once blamed for playing a dark role in the worst scandal in the history of the national team but now in the limelight as the wise old man of a team with high hopes.
Russian hooligans prepared for "ultra-rapid, ultra-violent action" were involved in the worst of the fighting that hit Marseille at the start of the Euro 2016 soccer tournament, the French city's chief prosecutor said on Monday.
European soccer's governing body warned the English and Russian football associations on Sunday that if fan violence continued their teams could be disqualified from the Euro 2016 tournament.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
The swollen Seine receded on Sunday, but between flood damages, strikes and terror fears, France was firmly stuck in the doldrums just five days before the Euro football tournament. Thick grey clouds hung over Paris as the muddy Seine slowly inched back from a three-decade high that saw it burst its banks in places, forcing the Louvre and Orsay museums to shut their doors to evacuate priceless works. But while crowds thronged to photograph the river -- Paris's star attraction this weekend -- residents in nearby towns picked through their devastated homes, with insurers estimating damages of at least 600 million euros ($681 million). Several towns remained on alert after the floods left four people dead in the Paris region this week, and over 11,000 homes were without electricity. In Paris several metro stations remained shut as a precaution.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was named African Footballer of the Year on Thursday, narrowly edging out Yaya Toure at the Confederation of African Football award ceremony.
Champions Olympique Lyon dented Olympique Marseille's chances of playing in Europe next season with a 1-0 away victory.
Triple European champions Manchester United and their under-fire coach Louis van Gaal face a tricky task against little-known Midtjylland in the last 32 of the Europa League following Monday's draw.
Paris St Germain continued their irrepressible march towards a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title with a 5-1 home win against Olympique Lyonnais to move 17 points clear at the top.
World champions Germany are to meet Ukraine, Poland and Northern Ireland in Group C.
Chelsea re-signed David Luiz and Premier League champions Leicester City broke their transfer record for striker Islam Slimani as English clubs exceeded the one billion pounds barrier when the curtain fell on transfer deadline day.
Sweden's Joachim Johansson unleashed 19 aces on his way to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic.
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