Griezmann happy to play part

Antoine Griezmann insists his experiences playing with Atletico Madrid helped him to force France through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.

France, who are priced at 5.25 to win Euro 2016 outright, had to rely on a second-half double from Griezmann to overcome Republic of Ireland with a 2-1 victory on Sunday.

The Atletico Madrid man has been in fine form at the European Championships and took his tournament tally to three as he leads the way as the joint top-scorer.

Despite falling behind to a penalty inside two minutes the French continued to press and never gave up on overturning the scoreline. Griezmann insists his experiences playing for Spanish giants Atleti have helped him to believe their is always an opportunity to win by the smallest of margins.

He said: “At half-time, we talked about what we were doing wrong and what we had to correct. I think we succeeded and that allowed us to overcome [Ireland]. “I’m used to games with only a few goals at Atletico Madrid. If you can’t win by much of an advantage then it’s important to do so by the minimum. What counts is to have achieved the victory.”

The former Real Sociedad man started the game playing wide on the right but a reshuffle at half time saw him handed the chance to play more centrally.

The 25-year-old insists he is happy to play anywhere for the national side but is more comfortable when he gets to play in the middle.

He added: “I feel more comfortable playing in the middle, where I play for Atletico. That’s my natural position, but I’ll play wherever the coach wants me and do my best for the team.”