Goal-machine Griezmann helps France’s healing

This was the night when France began to heal before our very eyes, a night when La Marseillaise was sung louder than it has ever been sung, a night when Antoine Griezmann became a national hero — and when Les Bleus dramatically and deservedly reached the final of Euro 2016.

Didier Deschamps men, who began the year still in pain — along with their fellow countrymen — following the bombings in Paris in November 2015, have taken a huge step to helping a nation come to terms with those terrible memories in what has been a remarkable campaign in the European Championships.

Two goals here from Griezmann, taking his tally to six in the tournament already, were enough to beat Germany 2-0 in Marseille and clinch a place against Portugal in the final in Paris on Sunday night.