Have you caught your breath yet?
Major tournament football can be a bit of a letdown at times, but some of the games we have been treated to at Euro 2020 thus far have been sublime.
France-Switzerland was the best of them. The second half especially was littered with moments of absolute quality, with the French scoring some remarkable goals.
Karim Benzema and Paul Pogba were in incredible form, scoring two of the best goals you are likely to see in this tournament. Of course, the Swiss would respond with a late brace of their own in order to push the game into extra time.
In the end, the pre-tournament favourites would be eliminated in the most dramatic circumstances.
Kylian Mbappe's penalty is saved by Sommer and #SUI beat #FRA 5-4 on penalties. @StephenKelly_2 called it!#FRASUI #EURO2020 #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/hRwSv2Oq6o
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 28, 2021
While the Swiss deserve full credit for what they achieved tonight, questions will be asked about France.
They had the most talented squad in the tournament but massively underperformed. They also did so while playing a style of football that was not befitting of the world class players at their disposal.
Speaking on RTÉ after the game, Damien Duff said that manager Didier Deschamps is now likely to come under some major pressure after this exit:
They've always beaten him with that stick: that he plays football that's too conservative and too pragmatic, just doing enough and it's not free-flowing enough when you look at their quality. It's probably similar to what England have done, they haven't been a great watch.
They're World Cup champions so he's got away with it, but of course they will aim that at him now because he has some of the best players in the world.
They don't play the most exciting brand of football, but at the same time he's a top manager. He has got all these top players playing his way and believing in his style, that's half the battle.
He has them all on board so I'd imagine the players will be well behind him. Of course it's a massive disappointment going out tonight.
Playing a conservative style of football and also conceding two late goals to inferior opposition is certainly not a good mix.
Didi Hamann said that giving up that late lead will not be accepted in France.
I think doing enough or just as much as you have to do is alright when you keep winning.
You can lose games in a knockout tournament, it can happen. You can't lose a game to Switzerland when you're 3-1 up with ten minutes to go. That shouldn't happen.
This is an experienced side. I always say you see how experienced a team are or how good they are in how they defend a lead. We've seen some teams in this tournament that have done it well, but for a world champion it's just not good enough to concede two late goals the way they did...
What Damien said about not playing expansive football, they showed it for 25 minutes after Switzerland missed the penalty.
People back home in France are probably saying 'why don't you play like this all the time?'
That's not possible because you've got to respect the opposition as well. But I think for the squad they've got, when you see them in the group stage and tonight, it's been a very disappointing France performance.
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