PARIS: When Dimitri Payet knelt down on the Lyon pitch to kiss Antoine Griezmann's left boot in France's 2-1 win over Ireland for a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, many fans felt they were witnessing something more than just another bizarre goal celebration.

Griezmann's double strike on Sunday came as a relief for the France fans, who had been worrying that a gruelling season might have taken its toll on the 25-year-old who had started the competition with below-par performances.

The boot-kissing came after Griezmann had scored his second goal of the night to seal victory and join Gareth Bale of Wales and Alvaro Morata of Spain at the top of the tournament's scorers' table with three goals.

Thirty more caps and 10 goals later, his relatively frail body and boyish looks have become familiar and the fans were quick to adopt "Grizou", as they affectionately call him.

They felt for him after hearing that his sister, Maud, was at the rock concert at the Bataclan hall when 90 people were killed in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. She escaped unhurt.

Griezmann was playing for France in a friendly against Germany that same night at the Stade de France, where three suicide bombers also blew themselves up outside the stadium.

He will be back in the showcase arena to face surprise package Iceland on Sunday and another kiss on his boot would be excellent news for France.

"The serious moments are now," said experienced left back Patrice Evra. "You have to be strong and take responsibility. That's exactly what Antoine is doing."