PARIS -- With the European Championship title at stake, France coach Didier Deschamps must decide whether to take the game to Portugal on Sunday or stick with the counter-attacking style that worked well against Germany in their semifinal.France has developed into an opportunist side at Euro 2016 with a penchant for hitting teams on the break. It no longer has an inspirational playmaker like Zinedine Zidane orchestrating attacks, and responds better to how others play, rather than dictating the game.Its not because were at home that weve got any extra strengths, Deschamps said after Thursdays 2-0 win against Germany, giving an insight into his sides more pragmatic style of play.Frances only truly dominant performance of the tournament was a 5-2 win against Iceland in the quarterfinals, but in that game Icelands rigid 4-4-2 formation posed few problems. Otherwise, Frances strength is more for winning through sheer persistence.In order to extract the most from his players, Deschamps has been flexible in his coaching, switching between 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations and changing his lineup several times.The problem is that Portugal likes to grind teams down, patiently waiting for the moment to pick out a run from Cristiano Ronaldo.While the Germans played very high up, with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer at times standing near the halfway line, Portugal sits very deep and leaves far less gaps to expose. Sundays final could therefore become a possession-based duel, which may not suit France.Unless Deschamps makes changes.Les Bleus will need to improve its use of the ball against Portugal, and this could lead to Deschamps bringing NGolo Kante back into the side at the expense of Moussa Sissoko, who wasted good attacking positions against Germany with some sloppy passes.Kantes presence in a 4-3-3 offers a quick outlet for the center backs, and his tidy passing helps gain quick forward momentum. The formation also offers more width and better suits Dimitri Payet -- who has faded since making a strong start to Euro 2016.Frances most creative midfielder, who has scored three goals so far, struggled to make an impression against Germany other than for his glaring inability to track back and defend.Deschamps will overlook this because he needs Payet to exploit any holes in Portugals tight unit.With a tournament-leading six goals so far, Antoine Griezmann is clearly Frances main threat in attack. He caused Germany problems by drifting between their lines, making it hard to pick him up. When German players got close, he used his excellent touch to play quick one-twos.That was important because striker Olivier Girouds hold-up play was patchy and he gave the ball away too often.Giroud will need to improve against Portugal, as will Frances defense, which remains too static at times against strong passing sides. Jeff Fisher Jersey . 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The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. Willie Galimore Jersey . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. ATLANTA -- Max Scherzer watches Trea Turner and sees a 10-year veteran, not a rookie.This guy can absolutely do everything, and with the speed. Ive never seen anybody have this much speed and this much power from that frame, Scherzer said. Its unbelievable what he does.Turner homered, had four hits and scored four runs, Scherzer won his fifth straight decision and the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 7-2 on Friday night.Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon each added two RBI.The Nationals, seeking their third NL East title in five years, have won 13 of 17. Their magic number to clinch the division is six with 15 games remaining.Scherzer (17-7) gave up seven hits, two runs, two walks and struck out eight in seven innings. The Washington ace is 12-3 with a 2.10 ERA in his last 20 starts.We were able to put up five runs in the first two innings, Scherzer said. Treas got his fingers all over it again. And then the defense tonight -- man, they made some great plays.John Gant (1-4) allowed six hits, five runs and three walks in 1 2/3 innings. Appearing in his 16th game with seven starts, Gant had his ERA rise 84 points to 5.24.The Nationals took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Rendons two-run single and went up 5-0 in the second on Turners ninth homer and Murphys RBI double.Atlanta made it 5-1 in the bottom of the second on Tyler Flowers RBI single. Flowers cut the lead to 5-2 in the sixth with a sacrifice fly.Turner stole second and third in the seventh and scored on Murphys sacrifice fly. Turners 26th stolen base dropped Flowers, the Atlanta catcher, to 1 for 56 this season on caught stealing attempts.Turner added a ground-rule double and scored in the ninth on Jayson Werths single, becoming the first player since Pittsburghs Starling Marte on June 12, 2013, to have four hits, four runs and two stolen bases in a game.In 52 career at-bats against the Braves, Turner is hitting .462 with four homers, 13 RBI, 17 runs scored and six stolen bases.His hands work about as good as anybody you see, interim Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. We cant solve him, thats for sure. Hes energetic. Hes making them go. Hes refreshing to watch.Murphy has 46 doubles, most in the majors. His 104 RBI rank second in the NL.Blake Treinen pitched the eighth and Shawn Kelley the ninth for the Nationals.dddddddddddd.Washington improved to 15-2 against the NL-worst Braves this year and 36-11 in the series since June 21, 2014.BAKER IS BACKWashington manager Dusty Baker returned after a one-game absence due a death in his family. He arrived at Turner Field about three hours before the game.PROUD PARENTSSnitker told 1B Freddie Freeman to stay home and rest after his wife, Chelsea, gave birth to their first child, a son, on Thursday. Freeman is expected to be back in the lineup on Saturday. Rookie Blake Lalli took his place and went 0 for 4. ... Nationals SS Danny Espinosa wasnt in the lineup after his wife, Sara, gave birth to a boy in California. Espinosa arrived during the fifth inning. Stephen Drew took his place and went 1 for 3 with one run scored.ON APPEALBraves RHP Jose Ramirez filed an appeal after receiving a three-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for throwing a pitch near the head of Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez on Wednesday. Both teams benches emptied, but the situation settled down after players from both teams crowded around Fernandez, Ramirez and Flowers. Ramirez was ejected from the game.TRAINERS ROOMBraves 2B Jace Peterson was scratched from the lineup with a left ankle sprain. Gordon Beckham took his place and went 1 for 4. ... Braves OF Mallex Smith was reinstated from the 60-day disabled list after missing 76 games with a broken left thumb. Smith had a pinch-hit single in the seventh. ... Atlanta RHP Mike Foltynewicz is walking without much discomfort and could make a start next week. He was injured last Monday when a liner bounced off his calf.CENTRAL FLORIDA-BOUNDThe Braves are moving their high Single-A affiliate from Zebulon, North Carolina to Kissimmee, Florida before the start of next season.UP NEXTNationals: LHP Gio Gonzalez (11-9) will make his 30th start. Hes 4-8 with a 4.70 ERA in 16 career starts against Atlanta.Braves: RHP Josh Collmenter, acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs earlier this week, will make his first start since June 7, 2015 for Arizona. He went 1-0 with a 4.84 ERA in 15 games for the Diamondbacks this year before they released him in August. ' ' '