Iceland ends dream run after 2-5 crush to France

Players strive for the ball during the UEFA Euro 2016, Quarter Final football match between France and Iceland on July 3, 2016. [Photo/IC]

PARIS - Iceland's fairytale run at the European Championship came to a crushing end as they were beaten by hosts France 5-2 at the Stadium of France here on Sunday.

France will next face German in the semifinals while Wales take on Portugal.

Didier Deschamps, the France coach, was very satisfied with the performance.

"There are a lot of positives to take away from this evening and I am delighted for the players as they deserve this," he said.

"Germany have been the best team, there is no doubt, even if they had a bit of a hard time on occasions against Italy who took them all the way. But we are there, in the final four, and we will give our all against the best team not only in Europe, but the world," he said of the clash against Germany.

Lars Lagerback, Iceland's joint coach, extended his congratulation to France and was happy with the dark-horse show during the tournament.

"They're a fantastic team and they made us look bad, even if we contributed to that. These four-and-a-half years have been a fantastic journey for me. With all the fans coming here and what we heard from back home, and all the positivity and interest - I feel it deep in my heart. I've enjoyed every minute, except maybe the first 45 minutes today.

"We didn't handle it well mentally, but in the second half we showed it wasn't a physical problem. These are the games you have to learn from and we need to learn from this. This was a good reminder that you have to have the right attitude every second."

"If you look at the whole tournament, to reach the quarter-finals as a newcomer is absolutely fantastic. We didn't use our brains, but part of that might be France playing very well. We made mistakes and were too passive."

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