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Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros

Sunday, July 3, 2016

France v Iceland: Euro 2016 quarter-final – live!

* Euro 2016 quarter-final updates from the Stade de France * Evra says France cannot afford another ‘crazy’ start against Iceland * Send your thoughts to Rob.Smyth@theguardian.com 7.02pm BST Iceland are unchanged, as they have been throughout the tournament. For France, the Barcelona-bound defender Samuel Umtiti makes his international debut in place of the suspended Adil Rami. Quite a time to win your first cap, though he has nothing on Ruben Moran. N’Golo Kante, also suspended, is replaced by Moussa Sissoko, which probably mean a switch to 4-2-3-1. FRANCE (4-2-3-1) Lloris; Sagna, Koscielny, Umtiti, Evra; Pogba, Matuidi; Sissoko, Griezmann, Payet; Giroud. 5.55pm BST Hello. The European Championship is a tournament that makes an ass out of u and me. Czechoslovakia, Denmark and Greece have won it, and the list of finalists and semi-finalists includes Yugoslavia, Belgium, Turkey, Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Hungary and – no Robbie, it’s not a dream - Wales. All logic suggests Iceland won’t join the list, and that France will beat them comfortably tonight. In this crazy football year, however, logic doesn’t draw much water. France are not playing especially well and were given a scare by Iceland’s near namesakes in the previous round. They also know better than most that the European Championship can confound expectations. As well as their memorable performances, the celebrated outsiders of Denmark (1992), the Czech Republic (1996) and Greece (2004) had another thing in common: they all put France out of the competition. Continue reading...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com