SAINT-DENIS, France -- The Icelandic thunderclap roar proved no match for the sheer talent of France as the hosts finally showed their title credentials at the European Championship on Sunday. Kendell Beckwith Jersey .A crushing 5-2 victory lined up a semifinal with Germany as France displayed the attacking ruthlessness that had been missing in its previous four games at the tournament.We have a lot of desire to get our own back for what happened at the World Cup, France striker Olivier Giroud said of the quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Germany two years ago.Was it only six weeks ago Giroud was being jeered by his own supporters?When Giroud cupped his ears to the crowd after scoring his second goal on Sunday, the striker seemed to revel in silencing his critics.And yet only national unity is on the mind of Giroud as France prepares for its first tournament semifinal in a decade on Thursday.I am delighted for the players as they deserve this, and for these fans who have been behind us for months, the Arsenal striker said magnanimously through a translator. To be able to offer them something to make them smile and feel happy.And yet Iceland left the Stade de France far from browbeaten.An embarrassing exit was on the cards at halftime when France led 4-0. But the Nordic newcomers recovered the resolve that has seen them charm and captivate the continent over the last month.Two second-half goals allowed the smallest nation to ever qualify for a major tournament to leave with their heads held high.We didnt handle it well mentally (in the first half), joint-coach Lars Lagerback said. But we showed in the second half it wasnt something physical in the team, we reloaded.The night began with rain descending on the field and the Viking slow capping ritual, with its Huh chant, booming around the stadium from the Iceland fans.France wasnt going to have its home stadium to itself and Gylfi Sigurdsson even had the games first shot although it was easily saved by France captain Hugo Lloris.But inspirational chants and a strong team ethic only take a team so far. This was a night of French superiority; when stature and skill of the hosts was too mighty to curb.The Iceland defense was breached with ease in the 12th minute when Blaise Matuidi lofted over a high pass into the path of the advancing Giroud, who clinically shot through the legs of goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson.Then, Paul Pogba soared above Jon Dadi Bodvarsson to meet Antoine Griezmanns corner and send a powerful header into the top corner in the 20th.Pogbas leap was matched almost immediately by one from French President Francois Hollande in the VIP seats.Worse was to come for the Icelanders with quick-fire goals inside two minutes before halftime.Moussa Sissokos cross was headed down by Giroud and Griezmann knocked the ball into the path to Dimitri Payet, who drilled a low shot in the corner of the net.The fourth goal saw Giroud and Griezmann combine again. Griezmann raced onto Girouds flick-on before dinking a shot over the advancing Halldorsson.Payet went over to kiss the left boot of Griezmann, the teams top scorer with four goals at Euro 2016.However, just like its raucous fans, Iceland wasnt done.Gylfi Sigurdsson whipped in a cross and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson slid past Samuel Umtiti, the Barcelona-bound defender making his France debut, to poke the ball over the line in the 56th.Would it be the start of an astonishing comeback? No.The four-goal cushion was restored by Giroud within three minutes, connecting with Payets free kick to glance a header into the net.I felt really good physically right from the start, Giroud said. We are used to making bad starts ... but we were very clinical, which is nice from a personal perspective.But Iceland had the final say on the night, with Birkir Bjarnason evading Patrice Evra to head Lloris.Iceland didnt give up at any stage, Giroud said. They were a very valiant and determined side who kept on going until the end.And its fans remained chanting in their seats long after the final whistle, taking in the surroundings.It was an unforgettable tournament debut by Iceland, drawing against Poland before eliminating England -- an achievement that will be remembered along with the feats of the new European champion, to be crowned back at the Stade de France next Sunday. Chris Baker Jersey . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Cheap DeSean Jackson Jersey .Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. http:///...ap-ryan-smith-jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. The most miserable experience of your cricket career would be touring abroad with the Indian team and not getting to play a single match. The man who spoke these words had kept wicket in all of Indias five Tests in the West Indies in 1971.I had got into the star-studded SBI team when P Krishnamurthy was touring the West Indies, and when I first met him on his return to Hyderabad, after Indias first series win in the Caribbean, he was brimming with confidence. Happily for me, he had liked what he saw of my bowling and lent me great support in my quest for a regular place in the team as an offspinner.But this was five years later, and Murthy was no longer quite the impressive wicketkeeper he had been as a member of Ajit Wadekars triumphant team. In fact, after his debut series he never played another Test match, with first Farrokh Engineer and later Syed Kirmani replacing him in the XI. He was part of the squad that went on tours of New Zealand and West Indies in 1975-76, and he barely got a game on either trip.A similar fate befell young Karnataka batsman Sudhakar Rao, who had impressed the selectors with a double-century against Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. He never played Test cricket for India despite scoring tons of runs in domestic cricket.Murthy had been specific about the loneliness and travails of an Indian cricketer on tour if he wasnt in the playing XI, but I wonder if it could be very different for players of other nationalities, unless the team management handles the situation differently--with tact and genuine understanding of the players psychology.I think Murthy felt left out and unwanted during the long tour, and that was perhaps the failure of the tour management. When the India Under-19 team won the World Cup in 2000, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and Arjun Yadav did not get a single game as the team kept winning every round and there was no scope for changes. The youngsters must have been treated very well during the championship because they came back quite cheerful. Winning of course helps, and I believe much of team spirit is fostered by the habit of winning rather than the other way around.Is your loyalty to the team tested when you are regularly kept out and unfairly so, at least in your mind? How difficult is it to keep up your morale and enjoy the success of your team and the company of your team-mates? Well-managed teams seem to prove successful in keeping the reserve players in good mental and physical shape. The captain and coach play vital roles in this.The Indian team in recent times has been quite effective in this regard if you go by the way players like Amit Mishra managed to stay positive enough while on the reserve bench and made the best use of their chances, however belated.A spectacular example from recent history has been that of Ajinkya Rahane, who waited for 16 Tests as a reservve before making his Test debut. O.J. Howard Jersey. This was a tribute as much to the players sterling mental qualities as to the way the management must have handled him.I had a personal taste of loneliness during the 1975-76 domestic season, when as a member of the South Zone squad, I sat out one tour game against Sri Lanka, followed by a Duleep Trophy game and a Deodhar Trophy match, both against Central Zone. We were 16 of us, and everyone except me played at least one match for the zone in that fortnight or so. Some of the seniors were not very kindly disposed towards me, and I felt rather low in spirits, when, as 12th man for the one-day match, I was told I would carry drinks but fellow reserve Kirmani would replace an injured fielder. Sure enough someone got injured, but there was no sign of Kirmani. I ran on to the field only to be called back frantically as by now Kiri was charging on to the ground. On my way back, a spectator in the pavilion gave me a dirty look and called me a bastard with unmistakable venom. I did not know this guy from Adam, but I will recognise him any time anywhere, even though the incident took place 40 years ago. My mood did not exactly brighten when I received the news that I had been dropped for the Duleep and Deodhar finals.I experienced yet another low when I was the only player among 33 in an Indian probables camp at Chepauk not to be picked for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, the unofficial trial before the 1977 tour of Australia. The South Zone team had been picked at the ground where we were training, and I felt as if I had been slapped.To come back to my ethical question: was my loyalty to my team tested? It came pretty close, but in the first instance, my Bangalore room-mates, Narasimha Rao and Jyotiprasad, not to mention our daily visitor, a diminutive genius named GR Viswanath, kept my spirits up with their unstinting friendship. In the second, young wicketkeeper Bharath Reddy brought the South Zone skipper S Venkataraghavan to my hotel room, and they both consoled me, with Venkat explaining that he had not been involved in the selection process.I have long wondered about the effect of exclusion on a cricketers psyche and the damage it can do to morale, team spirit and loyalty. I know my late friend Krishnamurthy was quite a wreck after a couple of long, lonely tours, at a time when we had less understanding of such troubles as depression. At the same time, I feel such factors as resilience, the comfort you can draw from the kind words of your colleagues, and the caring guidance of coaches and mentors can all help a player stay in the fight. Indian cricket seems to be faring quite well in this aspect of management - a healthy development in its history. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '