Antoine Griezmann claims France were “going to look like a***holes” if they lost to Ireland

Iceland will be relying on another slow France start when they meet in Paris on Sunday.

France's earliest goal at this summer's European Championships arrived in the 57th minute, against Romania, and supporters of Les Bleus won't appreciate the fact that Didier Deschamps' side are guilty of moping out of the traps, rather than bursting. A second half brace from Antoine Griezmann was required to eliminate the Republic of Ireland on Sunday and the Atletico Madrid star has apologised to the French supporters for how long it is taking the players to score. Griezmann also revealed the relief felt by getting past Ireland as, being eliminated at the round of 16 stage would have made the tournament hosts "look like arseholes." "It's true that our starts in each game have been either bad or very bad; we have to improve that because it cannot happen in every game," Griezmann said in quotes appearing in Marca. "It's not good for the French people's hearts. We told ourselves that we had to get our arses in gear; we're France and if we're knocked out we're going to look like arseholes." Late goals have been a common occurrence for this French side. It took a Dimitri Payet wonder-goal at the death to claim victory against Romania and two late goals from Griezmann and Payet got them over the line against Albania. Griezmann believes that the late strikes are down to a combination of worn-down opposition defences and impact substitutions. "Defences are more tired, and players that come on from the bench help us a lot," he added.