It was Germany pulling at hair, but it was France losing their heads. Astonishingly, Kathrin Hendrich’s 13th-minute red card for yanking the hair of France captain Griedge Mbock in the box only becomes a footnote in the grand scheme of Germany’s epically chaotic quarter-final victory in Basel. Down to 10 players for well over two hours of play, once additional time and stoppages were added, Germany survived to reach penalties, then subjected France to their worst nightmare.
And so France have still never beaten Germany at a major tournament; nor will they have had a better chance to do so. A young, confident, vibrant team that had steamrolled England to top their group instead froze under the pressure of the opportunity that lay ahead of them. What could have been a semi-final with Spain and a shot at a first major final now goes to Germany; their players gave everything, after Hendrich left them with the mountain to climb.
