The European footballing carnival is all set of take flight at the State de France in Paris in a few hours time. The excitement of not only the continent but that of the entire world footballing community can be sensed by the hoopla that has been surrounding this tournament.
The International friendlies leading up to this mega event have proven to be the perfect appetizer for what promises to be a grand feast for footballing fans from all over the globe.
The hosts, France, are clear favourites for this edition’s title as they have two world-class footballers for almost every position that there is. That combined with the home advantage should make them sail through to the Semi Final’s, at least.
Their first hurdle is going to be an inform Romanian side, who though don’t boast of many international stars like the French national team, but have shown that they are capable of scoring bucket loads of goals and are relatively solid at the back as well.
While the French have been brilliant in the international friendlies leading up to the main event, scoring at least 3 goals in their last 4 games, Romania too have been very explosive upfront, scoring 5 in their last friendly against Georgia and 3 in the game before that.
The problem for both these sides lie in their defence. The solidity has been missing but you can expect that when the centre backs get just a 15-day camp to develop a sound understanding between each other. If Romania can sort out their defensive issues, they could maybe exploit the initial ‘home’ tournament jitters that the French players would be having.
And combine that with the bitter memories of an initial slip up in the 2002 World Cup, where France lost to Senegal, despite boasting of stars like Zidane and Henry, the French fans would surely be iffy and comfortable if the Romanians can keep the French attackers at bay for long, or maybe even strike early in the game.
Deschamps would be raring to unleash his beasts and use the home advantage to develop some intial momentum going into the tournament and the likes of Pogba, Giroud, Griezmann and Payet should help him do that
For the Romanians the bulk of the work will have to be done by the defensive unit. In Ciprian Tatarasanu, they have a very able goalkeeper who has been exceptional for Fiorentina this season.
Chiriches will help his goalkeeper out by marshaling the defence in front of him and only a commanding defensive performance can help the Romanians to make a case for themselves at the State de France tomorrow!
Head to Head
In the 9 games played between these two sides, Romania are yet to register a win. France have won 4 games and 5 games have ended in draws.
Predicted France Line up(4-3-3)
Lloris- Sagna, Koscielny, Rami, Evra – Pogba, Matuidi, Kante – Payet, Griezmann, Giroud
Predicted Romania Line up(4-2-3-1)
Tatarusanu – Sapunaru, Moti, Grigore, Rat – Hoban, Pintilli – Popa, Stancui, Stancu – Andone
Match Prediction- France to win 3-1
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