Euro 2016 Recap: France Vs Romania

Fulltime: France 2-1 Romania

Giroud (FRA) 57'
Stancu (ROU) 65' Penalty
Payet (FRA) 89'

It was a match worthy of the Euro 2016 inaugural. Two teams separated by one five places in the world rankings met at the Stade de France in St. Denis for the lone Group A match on opening day. France versus Romania unfurled the quadrennial event watched by millions on television and online worldwide. Fans filled the stadium despite of all the security alerts that preceded the tournament.

Uneventful First-Half

The 1st-half was a tense affair, with both teams feeling each other out the way boxers would normally behave in the opening round. There were missed chances on both ends of the pitch, but it was the hosts France who had some advantage going forward. Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezman had a wasteful half; missing chances they would normally convert in club competition. Paul Pogba provided some spark running with the ball. But it was Dmitri Payet who was the most dangerous player on that grass. Romania held on to their battle plan, and preferred to play the counter attacking game. They had their chances that came mostly from  small errors in the Les Bleus' back four. In one incident close to halftime, Laurent Koscielny was lucky not to have been penalized for a foul inside the penalty area. Early in the game, Bogdan Stancu didn't capitalize on a rare chance to score a goal.

A Promising Second

The 2nd-half started with another Stancu chance that flew wide past the far-post. It was again another defensive error from the man in blue. Stancu himself was probably surprised to have been onside. On the other end, Giroud and Pogba had clearcut chances too. But it was again the brilliance of Payet that made the difference. A sweet cross inside the box met the head of Giroud. Romanian goalkeeper, Ciprian Tatarusanu was late with his gamble to meet the ball; and it ended in the net. I wondered at that point, would Costel Pantilimon have been able to reach that with his height?

But, it didn't take long for Romania to respond. A silly foul from Ptrice Evra on Nicolae Stanciu inside the box gave the referee, Victor Kassai of Hungary no choice, but to award a penalty. This gave Stancu another chance to challenge the skills of Hugo Lloris on goal. And the Romanian didn't disappoint; he ties the game at one apiece with less that 26 minutes to play.

Everything was tactical after the tying goal. Buoyed by their goal, Romania also started moving forward; challenging the blue defense. That took a toll on their stamina. By the 80th minute, they were cautioned for shirt-pulling at least twice. A clear sign of fatigue. On the other side, Payet was still weaving his magic. The injection of Manchester United forward, Anthony Martial in the 77th, gave the visitors more problems. His movement on the left-side allowed the yellow defense to open up a little bit in the middle. And in the 89th minute, a split second lapse  gifted Payet an aperture to the top corner of the goal. Game. Set. Match. As they say in tennis.

The Bad Tackle

As I mentioned in my preview: France is a contender with a strong team that oves forward. Even their defensive wingers (Evra and Bacary Sagna) love to move forward and shoot good crosses. But, they don't have that cohesiveness. In the match against Romania, defensive lapses could have cost them dearly. Only Adil Rami had an above-average performance at the back for them.

Romania needs to be more precise with their chances. Several gifts were presented to them during the match. But they weren't up to the challenge. If they are to advance to the next round. they should capitalize on any mistakes by the opponent and make them pay.