Griezmann reacts to leak of France penalty practice

France striker Antoine Griezmann has expressed anger at the French media for leaking the team’s penalty drill before their semifinal meeting against Spain. 

Les Bleus have not been impressive in the 2024 European Championship, having failed to score from open play. 

This has led to criticism from several quarters as they prepare for the Spain test, despite entering Euro 2024 as the pre-tournament favourites. 

LA Roja has been impressive, winning all their games so far and knocking out hosts, including Germany, in extra time. 

France have been far from their all-conquering best in the group stage. They recorded a narrow victory over Austria, followed by draws with the Netherlands and Poland. This made them qualify second from Group D to set up a clash with rivals Belgium, which they won courtesy of Jan Vertonghen’s own goal. 

Once again, Les Bleus failed to impress against Portugal in the quarterfinals, which proved to be a sterner test. However, the 2018 World Cup winners won, netting all five penalties following a goalless draw in Hamburg.

A French broadcaster, RMC Sports, shared videos of French players practicing penalties ahead of their Euro 2024 semifinal on Twitter, leading to a reaction from the vice-captain. 

The decision to share such important information before the game did not go down well with many, but the Atletico Madrid striker 

sarcastically replied to the video on X, thanking them for sharing the footage. 

There is a potential for another spot-kick in this knockout game. The footage of his side drilling penalties emerged in the lead-up to Tuesday’s semifinal clash.

The video of the practice displayed the names of each taker on screen as they stepped up from twelve yards.

Furious Griezmann sarcastically replied: ‘Well great! Thanks for the info!’

The Atletico Madrid star’s tweet got over 49,000 likes on the platform formerly known as Twitter, while fans questioned why the clips had been published in the first place.