Griezmann: Victorious France are in dreamland

Antoine Griezmann, France forward and Man of the Match
We're very happy. We can start dreaming of 10 July. We have to keep our feet on the ground, there's still a match to go. We're going to enjoy tonight but tomorrow we'll prepare for the final. We're delighted. Both before and during the game it was great with our fans – let's hope we can relive that in the final.

I really wanted to take a penalty in another important match. I'm pleased to have taken that decision and to have scored. For the second goal, I was just lurking to see if there was a mistake from the goalkeeper, it dropped to my feet and I was delighted. It was a team effort from everyone at Clairefontaine – I'm delighted for them all.

It's the teamwork from the physios, the staff, the players who haven't played any minutes during the competition. They work like crazy just so the starting XI are ready. It's a group effort and it's thanks to this group we're through to the final.

I hope we'll lift the trophy, but for now let's enjoy tonight. We're thrilled, we feel like kids. We know the whole country is behind us, so we're giving everything for them.

I'm absolutely delighted and very proud. There's still one match to go to finish with a flourish – it's going to be very tricky but I hope this won't be the end. It's our duty to win matches for the French public and let's hope we can finish on a high.

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Didier Deschamps, France coach
We've already written history. It was a long time since we'd beaten Germany but that didn't mean anything today. We're into the final. I'm delighted for the players, it was a very tough game against a team who made us suffer but we suffered together. When you see the passion and the fervour in the stands and around the ground ... This team has everything it takes to be loved.

It's a great feeling – we had to suffer but never gave up. This is a great story. The players wrote history by knocking out Germany. We don't have the power to solve people's problems but we can generate emotions so they forget their worries. We generate passion and fervour, we can see that.

Antoine is a great player and he proved that again tonight in everything he did. He works very hard and along with Olivier Giroud, from a defensive perspective he made sure we were a very compact unit. He's a very important player, as he has been for Atlético all season. At EURO, he's scored goals, set up team-mates and got others around him playing well.

A delighted Didier Deschamps©AFP/Getty Images

We have three days before the final, it's very short so we have to savour this victory. It's an important step forward but the most important step is Sunday. We're going to do everything in our power to go into Sunday's game in the best possible condition.

We have our chances and so do Portugal. As host nation, and because we've knocked out Germany, that doesn't give us extra powers. We believe in ourselves, so do Portugal.

I had my share of finals as a player. I'm very proud as a coach and proud of my players. When I wore this shirt it was the proudest moment of my career. There should be nothing above the French shirt for the players – perhaps that's not always been the case but they're now very aware of what they can give to people when they're wearing this shirt.

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Joachim Löw, Germany coach
We were the better team. We put in a lot of effort, showed good body language, got forward and were good in our individual battles. We were unfortunate to concede a penalty a minute before half-time, that was bad luck. We had our chances but didn't score. Today we didn't have the luck; in 2010 and 2012 when we went out, the sides were better than us. Today we were better than the French but for the goals and result.

There were injured players, Khedira and Gomez, Hummels was suspended and Boateng went off injured – they're hard players to replace. The side did everything I told them, showed a lot of courage, so there's nothing to reproach them for.

[For the second goal] we didn't get the ball away from a dangerous position – which we had done quite well throughout the game. We dominated France, most of all in midfield, but around the goal we didn't. We created pressure in the second half but there was always the danger on the counter – we invested everything, we tried everything and we had our chances.

France have succeeded in getting to the final – if you win 2-0 you deserve it. I think France will win against Portugal, Portugal haven't convinced me that much so far. France have a very good side but we were the better team today.

This was a good tournament from us. We have great energy in this side, they showed great effort – also in training in Evian – and in the games they've proved their great team spirit. It was impressive how players who didn't play helped the side, so there's going to be a short analysis but I haven't seen too many mistakes in this tournament from us. Overall, we have a great team.

Manuel Neuer, Germany goalkeeper
The only criticism can be that we weren't really ruthless up front. We had the opportunities to score one or two goals. We were ambitious and focused, but we just didn't have the luck.

Obviously the opposition made it hard for us. We did well. No one really got to the ball freely, there was always a French player in the way. So there wasn't really a one-on-one opportunity.