To be honest, Germany deserved to win what was a very open, hard-fought 1-1 game, although that was the WORST penalty-taking by both sides that I have ever seen, and I have seen penalty shootouts all the way from the international down to the local scuola calcio. While I’ve seen penalties reach the #8 shooter before, that’s only because both sides were systematically making their penalties, not because both teams had 3 of their first 5 penalty-takers miss.
What on Earth was Antonio Conte doing substituting in Zaza right before the end of the second extra-time period? I would have said it was the worst penalty I’d seen taken in a Euro championship were it not for Bastian Schweinsteiger putting a bizarre lob over the net a few moments later.
The operative theory in the household was that the shooters were intimidated by going up against Neuer and Buffon, the two best keepers in the world. That’s as good an explanation as any, I suppose.
This has been a fun Euro, though, what with both Iceland and Wales upsetting everyone. It’s probably too much to expect Iceland to upset France, even though most of Europe will be pulling for them.