Saint Etienne loves making history. Beyond Hervé Revelli, Michel Platini and Les Verts’
European Cup heroics of the 1970s, this atmospheric corner of the Loire
valley has carved itself a reputation in internationals. Eighteen years
after Argentina knocked out England out of the World Cup on penalties
in the last knockout tie here, Poland beat Switzerland in the same manner to become the first team in Euro 2016’s quarter-finals.

Granit Xhaka’s sliced spot-kick, the only one of 10 missed, proved decisive in a game that the Swiss bossed for the closing stages, inspired by Xherdan Shaqiri.
Both sides had progressed from the group stage of this competition for the first time but there was little even about the opening exchanges. The tone was set inside 30 seconds, when Arkadiusz Milik scooped a glorious opportunity over an unguarded net for Poland after a horrible mix-up between Yann Sommer and Johan Djourou.

Granit Xhaka’s sliced spot-kick, the only one of 10 missed, proved decisive in a game that the Swiss bossed for the closing stages, inspired by Xherdan Shaqiri.
Both sides had progressed from the group stage of this competition for the first time but there was little even about the opening exchanges. The tone was set inside 30 seconds, when Arkadiusz Milik scooped a glorious opportunity over an unguarded net for Poland after a horrible mix-up between Yann Sommer and Johan Djourou.

