France supporters drove by the capital’s historic Arc de Triomphe as they celebrated their team’s 5-2 victory against underdogs Iceland in the Euro 2016 quarter-finals on Sunday (July 3).
Waving France’s red, white and blue flags and honking their horns, the motorists drove through the rain and past police and soldiers lined along Paris’ Champs Elysee avenue.
Security has been tight during the month-long tournament as the capital is still reeling from the aftermath of the November 2015 Islamic State attacks which killed 130 people.
France swept emphatically into the Euro 2016 semi-finals and brought Iceland’s fairy tale run to a crushing halt as Olivier Giroud scored twice setting up a mouth-watering last-four clash with Germany.
Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann were also on target in a one-sided romp at the Stade de France that proved a nightmare end to war-weary Iceland’s improbable Euro dreams.
Having fairly comfortably eased past England into the quarter-finals, Iceland, the smallest nation ever to have qualified for the European Championship, with a population of 330,000, were 4-0 down inside the first half.
They tried to rally after the break with a goal from Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, and added a late consolation through Birkir Bjarnason, but the damage had already been done.
France, who had not been past the quarter-finals since they won the tournament in 2000, eased off and cruised home and will no doubt feel they are warming up nicely ahead of Thursday’s (July 7) semi-final against world champions Germany in Marseille.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016