The French manager likely nodded to himself as he watched Germany and Italy trade debaucherous penalties following a 1-1 finish Saturday night in Bordeaux. PARIS — Didier Deschamps didn’t bother having France practise penalty kick-taking ahead of Sunday night’s quarter-final with Iceland. It sets up what will undoubtedly be billed as the final before the final in Marseille later this week. With hard work you can achieve things you wouldn’t have thought possible at the outset.”Still, concerns persist for the storied footballing nation. Italy’s seemingly impenetrable defence completely fell asleep on Ozil’s opener — just the second goal they’d conceded at this tournament.

Source: National Post July 03, 2016 02:26 UTC