07/07/2016
PREVIEW OF GERMANY VS FRANCE
TEAM NEWS
Germany are without suspended defender Mats Hummels and the injured pair of Sami Khedira and Mario Gomez.
Bastian Schweinsteiger hurt his knee against Italy but returned to training on Wednesday and will start against France, coach Joachim Low has said.
France coach Didier Deschamps has to decide whether to continue with Samuel Umtiti in defence or recall Adil Rami, who has completed a one-game ban. Midfielder N'Golo Kante also returns after serving a suspension.
Deschamps has a fully-fit squad to choose from, with all 23 players training on Wednesday.
MATCH PREVIEW
The last time Germany faced the host nation in the semi-finals of a major tournament they won 7-1. Their astonishing victory over Brazil two years ago was the seventh time they have eliminated a host nation at a World Cup or Euros - with six of those remarkably coming at the semi-final stage.
One of those wins came against France in 1982 in one of the most memorable games in World Cup history.
After an epic 3-3 draw, Germany emerged victorious from the first ever penalty shootout at a World Cup. The game will forever be remembered for the infamous challenge by Germany goalkeeper Harald Schumacher on Patrick Battiston that resulted in the Frenchman leaving the field on oxygen with three cracked ribs, two missing teeth and a damaged vertebra.
To add insult to serious injury, Schumacher went on to save two penalties in the shootout.
Euro 2016: France 5-2 Iceland highlights
Germany yet again emerged victorious from another shootout in their quarter-final against Italy on Saturday. The tournament specialists are steadily moving through the gears and will not be fazed by a partisan atmosphere in Marseille. "Germany are Germany" said France coach Didier Deschamps, "the best side in Europe and indeed the world."
Newspaper L'Equipe described France's performance against Iceland as "Presque Parfait" (Almost Perfect). At times they were electric and their forwards are having their own personal competition to see who can win the golden boot.
It has left Germany boss Joachim Low worried: "Italy were a team with automated plays. They are world class in playing them but they are predictable," he said.
"France are different. They constantly change positions, they are much more unexpected and difficult to predict," he added.
Deschamps' men are coming to the boil nicely as they target what would be a third victory on home soil in a major tournament.
However, they haven't beat the Germans in a major tournament since 1958 and this will be comfortably their toughest test at Euro 2016.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
■This will be the fifth encounter between Germany and France at a major tournament, but their first in the European Championship.
■France won the first meeting at a World Cup (in 1958) whilst Germany came out on top in the next three (in 1982, 1986 and 2014).
■Germany and France have won 36% of the European Championship finals (five out of 14). They are the top two scorers in the history of the tournament (72 goals for Germany, 60 for France).
■Alain Giresse is the last French player to score against Germany at a major tournament, at the 1982 World Cup semi-final.
■They last met in November 2015 - France won 2-0 in a match marred by the Paris attacks.
■France have never kept a clean sheet in their four meetings with Germany at major tournaments.
Germany
■Germany have reached the semi-finals in each of their last six major tournaments, the longest such run by a European team.
■Twenty years without lifting the European Championship trophy is their longest drought in the history of the tournament.
■They have lost just one of their last 18 games at major tournaments (a 2-1 defeat by Italy at Euro 2012).
■Thomas Muller hasn't scored a single goal in 10 games at the Euros - he also missed his penalty in the shoot-out against Italy last Saturday. He has 10 goals in 13 World Cup games.
■Bastian Schweinsteiger has played in 37 games at major tournaments, the joint-most alongside Miroslav Klose for any nation at the World Cup and European Championships.
■Mesut Ozil is the only player to have started all 24 of Germany's games since - and including - the 2010 World Cup. He's the top assist provider in the last four major tournaments with eight.
France
■France are in the semi-finals of a major tournament for the first time since the 2006 World Cup. They have actually progressed to the final on the last three occasions where they have made the last four, with their last failure in a semi-final dating back to Euro 1996 against the Czech Republic.
■They are unbeaten in their last 17 major tournament games played on home soil, winning 15 and drawing two. Their last defeat was in the inaugural European Championship in 1960 against Czechoslovakia.
■France are the top scorers at Euro 2016 with 11 goals in five games. France have not scored that many in a major tournament since Euro 2000 (13).
■They have scored five headed goals - a record by a team in a single Euro finals.
■Olivier Giroud has scored in each of his two starts against Germany. In fact, his first goal for France came in February 2012 in Bremen, against Germany. He has also scored past Manuel Neuer the last three times he has faced him (once for Germany, twice for Arsenal).
■Giroud has scored four goals and delivered three assists in six starts at major tournaments.
■Antoine Griezmann's four goals at Euro 2016 is the most by a French player in a major tournament since Michel Platini scored nine goals at Euro 1984.
SOURCE (BBC.COM WEBSITE)
