Payet saves France

FRANCE Euro 2016

The first match of the 2016 European Championship was at Stade de France, Paris.

France and Romania kicked off the tournament and Group. A with a 2-1 scoreline. France walked away from Stade de France as winners, but fans would have wanted a healthier win.      

France 2                            Romania 1.

Olivier Giroud 58                Bogdan Stancu 65’(pen)

Dimitri Payet 89

The host the win they needed. It was a match close match that shouldn’t have been.  France had frequent opportunities during the match to score, but had Romania taken the chances they had created during the course of the match, this could have been a different scoreline.

Maybe it was the nerves, and the next game will be better for the host nation. A win is all that matters in cup competition, and France got that in their first match.

Payet assisted and scored a goal, there is no doubt he was the man of the match. His cross into the Romanian penalty box was headed into the net by Olivier Giroud to break the deadlock in the 58th minute. The cross didn’t look like a threat, as Romanian goalkeeper looked to have it covered. His miscalculation led to him grabbing nothing but air, while the ball found itself in the back of the net.

Romania equalized in the 65th minute from a penalty kick awarded after Evra seemed to have tripped Nicolae Stanciu. Bogdan Stancu made no mistake and converted the kick into a goal.

At 1-1, it felt like France will have to settle for a draw. They’ve been wasteful with their chances, and Romanian defense was getting immune to their attacks.

A final push for a winning goal in the deep end of the second half brought rewards to the host. Dimitri Payer will be involved in a goal again. His powerful placed shot curled into the roof of the net in the 89th minute. France was up by a goal, and with the atmosphere around the stadium, there was no way the players were going to allow that to slip.

Romania sits at the bottom of the table with a negative goal difference. Romania will take on Switzerland on June 15th. By then, Switzerland would have played Albania to complete the first round of Group A in Euro 2016.

France will take on Albania next. A win will probably see them through to the Round of 16.

This is how the current table looks….