Practice makes perfect: Griezmann heads France's attack
PARIS (AP) - As a small boy, Antoine Griezmann would run onto the pitch after watching the adults play and practice his headers over and over again.
Those shifts are paying off at the European Championship.
Griezmann has scored three goals, two of them headers, helping France out of couple of scrapes on its way to the quarterfinals.
The first of those broke the deadlock in the 90th minute of France's second group game against Albania.
France got another soon after to win by a flattering 2-0.
The second was in the second half of Sunday's match against Ireland in the round of 16, with Les Bleus trailing 1-0.
Griezmann got another soon after to secure a 2-1 victory.
At first glance, his heading prowess may come as a bit of a surprise. Standing at 1.76 meters (around 5-foot-9), Griezmann isn't one of the tallest strikers around.
But he compensates for his lack of height with an elastic frame and great spring. His sure timing then allows him to unleash tremendous power on meeting the ball.
"Ever since I was really small I enjoyed heading it, and I love to work on headers in training. Last week I practiced them a dozen times and it paid off," said Griezmann, who grew up in Macon, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Lyon.
"When I was little, I used to go and watch the Macon first team; I must have been eight years old. At halftime, or after the game, we would all jump over onto the pitch. Someone would be crossing it and we'd have to do headers."
Griezmann hasn't had a traditional career, opting as a teenager to try his luck in Spain, joining Real Sociedad in 2008.
French clubs must be kicking themselves - especially seven-time champion Lyon.
Griezmann supported Lyon and dreamed of playing for the club.
But with a youth system producing the likes of skillful winger Hatem Ben Arfa and striker Karim Benzema, Lyon considered him too frail.
Overlooked he ventured to Spain and in August, 2013, Griezmann scored a spectacular volley against Lyon in the first leg of a Champions League qualifier that Sociedad won 4-0 on aggregate. After 53 goals for Sociedad, he joined Atletico Madrid in 2014, and has 57 goals in 107 games for the Champions League runner-up.
His league statistics in two seasons are near-identical: 22 goals in 37 games and 22 in 38.
At the 2014 World Cup, he was a peripheral figure, failing to score while Benzema grabbed three goals during the group stage.
With Benzema left out of the Euro 2016 squad due to an ongoing sex-tape scandal, Griezmann now has more responsibility.
"He was exceptional against Ireland," said French Football Federation Noel Le Graet, who previously suspended Griezmann.
Back in October 2012, while playing for the under-21s, Griezmann jumped in a car with midfielder Yann M'Vila and three other players, leaving the team's training camp in Le Havre at night to drive to a Paris nightclub. Sneaking back in the early hours, they were rumbled.
It happened just before the return leg of a qualifier against Norway for the European Under-21 Championship in 2013. After France lost 5-3 in Norway and failed to qualify, Griezmann was suspended from national teams until January 2014.
His displays at Euro 2016 have earned him much more favorable headlines, particularly on Monday.
Sports daily L'Equipe featured him celebrating with striker Olivier Giroud, under the headline "LIBERES" (Freed), while Lyon-based Le Progres labeled him "Le Detonateur" (Detonator).
Trailing to a penalty in the second minute, France was wracked with nerves against Ireland.
Blunt words were exchanged at halftime.
"We said things to each other, basically that we needed to 'move our butt,'" Griezmann said Monday. "(Otherwise) we would have all looked like idiots."