Football
ESPN staff 8y

Iceland Euro 2016 mentality threatens France in quarterfinals - Hugo Lloris

France captain Hugo Lloris has warned of Euro 2016 minnows Iceland's potential to surprise his team in their quarterfinal meeting on Sunday.

Iceland's defeat of a below-par England as well as Wales' shock victory against Belgium in Friday's quarterfinal fixture served as timely reminders of the ability of smaller teams with a good mentality to advance in a competition, the 29-year-old said.

"We didn't need to see the Wales result to be wary of every team in the competition," France captain Lloris told a prematch news conference.

"There have been surprises from the outset of this tournament. It's not enough to just be a top side to make it into the top four.

"The sides who have played the best football are not necessarily in the competition anymore. I think now it is about the team mindset. A team's mental strength can make the difference and we must focus on that against Iceland."

And this might have become all too familiar to the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper, who saw Leicester City hold off his side's challenge to clinch the Premier League title last season.

Though France remain unbeaten in the tournament thus far -- as are their Icelandic challengers -- the host nation have played below what many perceived to be their capabilities, having entered the competition as favourites.

Speaking of his side's trend of snatching victory with a last-minute goal, Lloris joked: "That's very French, I would say."

In their opener against Romania, it was an 89th-minute goal from Dimitri Payet that secured victory for Les Bleus and again in their second match Albania looked certain to hold them to a goalless draw, had it not been for Antoine Griezmann and Payet finding the net in the 90th and 96th-minute, respectively.

He added: "From my side of things it's not a great problem to not have a great start to the match. What is important is achieving the result you want.

"What does bother me is having [a] spoke between our wheels through a lack of aggressiveness. That's what led to the penalty [against Republic of Ireland] and could be a problem for the team.

"Conceding within a couple of minutes could be terminal for the team's chances. So far we are able to bounce back, but it is better to avoid that."

Lloris also praised former Spurs teammate Gylfi Sigurdsson, who he said was "a great player."

"Unfortunately, the fact that he's Icelandic means he isn't so well known in France, but he is very highly rated on the other side of the channel."

But Iceland are not a one-man team, he said: "They have two or three players with high quality.

"What makes Iceland so strong is that they are a tight, compact unit showing plenty of solidarity."

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