France manager Didier Deschamps says his players will give everything to defeat Germany – “the best side in the world” – and reach the Euro 2016 final.
Hosts France beat Iceland 5-2 in Sunday’s quarter-final at the Stade de France to set up a last-four tie with world champions Germany, who beat Italy on penalties after Saturday’s 1-1 draw.
“Germany are the best side, there’s no doubt about that,” Deschamps said.
“We’re going to really go for it against the best side in the world.”
He added: “They had a few problems against Italy but Germany are Germany. It will be a huge match, and we have to give our all.”
Striker Olivier Giroud scored the opening goal as France built a 4-0 half-time lead in Paris, with the Arsenal striker adding his second in between Iceland consolation goals.
“Are we confident? No, because Germany are the world champions and favourites. But we’d like to write another chapter in French football history,” Giroud said.
“We’re very pleased with our performance tonight. We scored five goals, and although we did concede a couple we had a lot of fun. We came out fighting right from the start, which we’d been struggling to do since the start of the tournament.
“We’re going to try and erase a few of those small defensive mistakes though, because against Germany we’d pay a heavy price.”