'They were a mess' - Gary Neville, Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane critical of France attitude after Euro 2020 defeat
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Updated 29/06/2021 at 07:35 GMT
France crashed out of Euro 2020 after a penalty shootout defeat to Switzerland in Bucharest, with Kylian Mbappe seeing his effort saved by Yann Sommer. Gary Neville, Roy Keane and former France international Patrick Vieira were critical of the performance from the world champions, who had led 3-1 late in the game.
'No one is angry with Mbappe' - Deschamps plays down player reaction after Swiss loss
Gary Neville labelled France “a mess” following their shock Euro 2020 last-16 exit against Switzerland.
The world champions looked to be cruising into the quarter-finals after coming from a goal down to lead 3-1 in Bucharest.
However, Switzerland scored two late goals to send the tie to extra-time and then won on penalties after Kylian Mbappe saw his effort saved by Yann Sommer.
“I thought the Swiss were the perfect team to springboard the French assault on this tournament and they have shocked us all,” said former England and Manchester United defender Neville on ITV.
“I am absolutely stunned with what I have seen over the last 120 minutes.
“I thought it was a mess from France from the first minute. They thought they could turn up, be complacent, the system was all wrong, the players didn’t have a clue what they were doing in the first half, and yet they have so many fantastic players they get through it and get 3-1 up. They were a mess.”
Neville also thinks the penalty miss will be tough for Mbappe to take after failing to score at the tournament.
“You just knew when Mbappe was walking up, you thought ‘oh no’. This has not gone well for him.
“He has aspirations to be the best player in the world like [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo, this is a little bump in the road for him but a massive test for him over the next few weeks. He will come through it, he is having a tough time at this tournament and it’s a tough one for him to take.”
While France head home, Switzerland will face Spain, who came through another thrilling clash against Croatia.
Former France midfielder Patrick Vieira said he was “disappointed” with the attitude shown by Didier Deschamps’ side.
“Everybody can miss a penalty, but we have to give credit to the Swiss because I strongly believe the best team won today. The best team deserved to go through to the next round.
“I am disappointed with the attitude they had on the field. I think it was a poor French national team, there wasn’t any kind of togetherness or spirit, we didn’t play as a team so we didn’t deserve to go to the next round. At times we played well because individual quality of the players makes a difference but collectively we were far behind the Swiss.”
Roy Keane added: “Switzerland defended as a team, kept fighting, and all credit to the manager. They have produced. The French were a huge disappointment, they had the game won at 3-1.
“The French turn up with the wrong attitude, get themselves out of jail with their quality, but it wasn’t enough and I am glad they got punished for that. You can have all the quality in the world but if you don’t turn up with the proper attitude it’s hard to switch it back on.”
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