France boss Didier Deschamps has paid tribute to his players following Thursday night's 2-0 win over Germany in the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

A brace from Antoine Griezmann saw the Blues beat Germany at a major competition for the first time since 1958, and Deschamps was delighted to have made history with the tournament hosts.

The national team boss, who won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 as a player, also paid tribute to France's fans for their vocal support throughout the competition.

"We've already [written history]. It was a long time since we'd beaten Germany but that didn't mean anything today. We're into the final and there's a trophy up for grabs. I'm delighted for the players, it was a very tough game against a team who made us suffer but we suffered together," Deschamps told reporters.

"When you see the passion and the fervour in the stands around the ground... this team has everything it takes to be loved. It's a great emotion – we had to suffer but never gave up and that's great for me. This is a great story – the players wrote history by knocking out Germany.

"We don't have the power to solve people's problems but we can generate emotions so they forget their worries. We generate passion and fervour, we can see that."

France will take on Portugal in the final of Euro 2016 on Sunday night.

Written by
Matt Law