France coach Didier Deschamps has heaped praise on star forward Antoine Griezmann and debutant defender Samuel Umtiti.
The pairing was on show for France as they steamrolled past Iceland to reach the Euro 2016 semi-finals on Sunday after a dominating 5-2 win.
Atletico Madrid forward Griezmann earned the assist after Paul Pogba headed France into a two-goal lead before getting on the scoresheet himself.
Griezmann’s goal, a strike that took him to the top of the Golden Boot race with his fourth goal of the tournament, all but settled the game. His sublime finish over the head of the Iceland goalkeeper on the stroke of half time stretched the hosts out to a 4-0 lead, reports Goal.
‘Long may it continue, if he can be the top scorer so much the better for us,’ Deschamps said.
‘Antoine had a tricky start to the tournament. He was a little bit fatigued so I wanted to manage him during the first nine days of the tournament.’
Griezmann has seemingly repaid his coach as he now tops the Euro scoring charts with four goals to his name.
‘He is fit now and did not have any fatigue tonight or during the previous match,’ Deschamps continued.
‘He is a clinical finisher, he is excellent technically and we hope he continues like this.’
At the other end of the pitch Barcelona-bound Samuel Umtiti turned in a solid first display for Les Blues.
‘He really confirmed everything that I’ve thought of him and everything that he’s been able to demonstrate in training. Clearly he is a good defender. He is relatively calm and he played his part in making sure that we defended well.’
France will face Germany in the semi-finals at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Thursday.
Kick-off is at 21:00.
