2016 European Football Championship

On the evening of Friday, 13 November 2015, two men set off for work at the Stade de France. Though neither were born in France, both were fans of the country's football team, and regarded the national stadium as a sacred place representing all that was best about modern, multicultural France.

Manuel Colaco Dias, a Portuguese-born chauffeur, picked up his passengers in the early evening - a group of France fans who knew him and requested him by name. They liked his genial manner and habit of chatting knowledgeably about football on the long drive to the game. He had made the trip to the Stade de France many times.

For security guard Salim Toorabally, it was his first time at the stadium. It was the sort of bitterly cold evening he had never known before he left the palm-fringed shores of his native Mauritius in the 1990s, but the friendly rivalry between the French and German fans, and the sight of beaming children with painted faces, kindled a warm glow inside him. Through a thick cocoon of thermal clothing, he dimly registered the vibrating of his phone. He burrowed a gloved hand into his pocket. It was a text from Yza, his 15-year-old daughter.

“Papa,” it read. “Be careful this evening. I have a feeling something bad could happen.”

Work began on the Stade de France, the flagship venue for the 1998 World Cup, in May 1995. The district chosen was Saint-Denis, one of Paris' notorious banlieues: chaotic, impoverished suburbs synonymous with unemployment, deprivation and racial tension.

When Smail Zidane, father of the brilliant French footballer Zinedine, came to France in the 1950s, he worked on a building site in Saint-Denis just yards from the future site of the stadium, and slept there too because he didn't have enough money for rent.

As he lay among the bricks and girders, he could scarcely have dreamed that on that same soil, four decades later, his son would be feted as a national hero.

For many French people, the late 1990s were hard years. “The big problem was that for the young generation, my generation, integration was not as good any more,” says French football writer Julien Laurens.

“Our dads had jobs but we were not sure what the future held for us. There was a sense of, 'What are we going to do next?' You went to school and you were already a failure because school was not for you. You went for a job interview and there was no job for you because you came from a bad area. The future looked really gloomy, especially if you were an immigrant."

The France team of 1998, with many players from immigrant backgrounds, offered an obvious symbolic counterpoint, but they were not expected to do well. They were ranked 18th in the world, had lost a pre-tournament friendly to Russia, and scraped draws against Sweden and Morocco.

Public opinion was strongly against manager Aime Jacquet, a 56-year-old former soldier who had narrowly escaped deployment to the Algerian War, but was nonetheless well used to the military metaphor of siege mentality and staring down the barrel.

It was against this pessimistic backdrop that Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right Front National party, denounced the multiracial Bleus as “artificial” and “not a real French team”. It was clear they were fighting for more than the World Cup trophy.

Days before their first match, Jacquet gathered his men at their training camp at Clairefontaine, just south-west of Paris. “I want us to be together in this,” he said, according to football magazine FourFourTwo. “What is going to happen is so important - I don’t think you have fully realised yet.”

Germany finally broke their Italian hoodoo at major tournament finals by beating the Azzurri 6-5 in a penalty shoot-out to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

In a rather dull encounter in Bordeaux, apart from the dramatic penalty shoot-out, the World Champions needed 65 minutes to break the deadlock courtesy of Mesut Ozil.

Italy were back on level terms when Leonardo Bonucci scored from the penalty spot.

Regulation and extra time ended 1-1 leaving penalties to decide the winner.

After a marathon shoot-out Jonas Hector hit the winning spot kick to fire Germany to their seventh consecutive last four of a major tournament, where this time they’‘ll face either France or Iceland.

It was Germany’s first win over Italy in nine major tournament matches.

A first half to forget

The first half of the game was sluggish and bereft of any serious threat, not to mention excitement for the neutrals.

The only action worthy of note came in the 14th minute when Sami Khedira signaled to the bench that he could no longer carry on after suffering a groin injury.

Bastien Schweinsteiger came on in his place and in doing so equaled Miroslav Klose’s all-time record of featuring in 37 matches at a World Cup and European Championship finals.

Joachim Loew’s Germany had the lion’s share of possession in the first half, but were unable to capitalize leaving Gigi Buffon with little to do, while Manuel Neuer in the other goal had even less to do as Italy’s attacking force was almost non-existent. Daniele De Rossi’s absence in midfield due to a thigh injury was plain to see.

Schweinsteiger had a goal disallowed on 27 minutes but was called for a clear foul on Mattia De Sciglio.

Half time couldn’t come quick enough.

After a dull start to the second half the tedious deadlock was finally broken on 65 minutes when Mesut Ozil burst into the box to fire past Buffon.

It started on the left flank when Mario Gomez broke down the line before playing a delightful feed to Jonas Hector in the box. Hector then pulled it back to the penalty spot, and after a slight deflection off an Italian defender, it found its way to Ozil who arriving at the near post made no mistake to half volley home from eight yards out.

It was the first goal conceded by Germany from their five games so far in France – they were the first nation in Euro finals history to keep a clean sheet in each of their first four games.

Despite an improved final ten minutes of play, neither side could find the winner in the regulation 90 minutes and Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai blew his whistle for 30 minutes of extra time.

No further goals were scored in extra time leaving a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.

Lorenzo Insigne steadied Italy’s nerve firing past Neuer for the opening spot kick, Toni Kroos quickly made it all square.

Second half sub Simone Zaza fired well over the bar to put Germany in the driving seat, but Thomas Müller failed to take advantage and his lame effort was saved by Buffon.

Andrea Barzagli coolly converted his spot kick and when Ozil’s attempt hit the post and went out, Italy were on the verge of qualifying.

Graziano Pellè, however, produced arguably the worst penalty so far and dribbled his effort wide.

Julian Draxler wrong footed Buffon to put Germany level again.

Neuer then guessed right for Leonardo Bonucci’s kick leaving Schweinsteiger to hit the winner but the Manchester United player fired over the bar.

Emanuele Giaccherini fired hard and centre to kick-start sudden death on a positive note for the Italians while Mats Hummels replied in confident fashion.

Marco Parolo and Joshua Kimmich added to their side’s account, Mattia De Sciglio shredded Italian nerves hitting the cross bar before the back of the net as Jerome Boateng once again levelled.

Matteo Darmian’s effort was saved giving the chance for Jonas Hector to score the winning penalty. He made no mistake and beat Buffon to send his nation through to the semis and the German fans into mass celebration.

The prize for the winners is a semi-final against either hosts France or Iceland, who play on Sunday.