Euro 2016 kicks off on Friday night with the hosts France taking on Romania at the Stade de France, 18 years to the day since the 1998 World Cup kicked off in the very same stadium. The hosts would go on to win the tournament, with Didier Deschamps captaining the side in the final. Deschamps, now head coach, will be under enormous pressure to replicate that success on home soil.
Hoping to capitalise on that pressure is a Romania side who conceded just 2 goals in 10 qualifying matches. Although defensively solid, goals are at a premium for Romania as they only managed to hit the back of the net 11 times in qualification. Indeed, their top scorers in qualification were tied on 2 each.
The 2016 edition of the European Championship will kick start with the hosts France playing against a strong Romanian side on Friday, 10 June 2016 at Stade de France in Seine saint-Denis.
The French side are entering the tournament with high spirit, having gone unbeaten I their last 4 friendly games and also on a winning streak, beating Netherlands 3-2, Russia 4-2, Cameroon 3-2 and finally Scotland 3-0. They are hoping to continue their good form with a win in this game.
Meanwhile the Romanians are not to be taken lightly in this tournament, they also enter the game in high spirit like their opponent as they thrashed Georgia 5-1 last Saturday in their last friendly game in Bucharest.Form Comparison
The host France are on a superb form winning there last four games, there scoring power is not to be over looked as they have scored at least 3 goals in each of their last 4 games, but their defence should be of a concern to every French fan, they have conceded at least 2 goals in 3 of their last 4 games.
Romania’s Last 5 games featured 2 wins, 2 draws and a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Ukraine. Their last 2 games showed they can score easily when the chance presents itself, as they have scored a combination of 8 goals in the 2 games. Also they seem to have a strong defence, besides the Ukraine game, they have not conceded above
1 goal in their last 5 games.
France: Team News
France will be without Karim Benzema in this Tournament as he is on suspension due to some scandals however they still have Antoine Greizmann and Olivier Giroud upfront
France: Predicted Line-up (4-3-3)
Lloris – Sagna, Rami, Koscielny, Evra – Pogba, Kante, Matuidi – Payet, Griezmann, Giroud.
Romania: Team News
Romania may not be tipped as the tournament favourites, but they have some qualities in their team, especially defensively, they have Fiorentina’s shot stopper Ciprian Tatarusanu and Napoli defender Vlad Chiriches, including Rayo Vallencano’s defender Razvan Rat.
Romania: Predicted Line-up (4-2-3-1)
Tatarusanu – Sapunaru, Moti, Grigore, Rat – Pintilii, Hoban – Popa, Stanciu,
Stancu – Andone.
France vs Romania: Head-To-Head stats
France have a formidable head to head record against Romania and are unbeaten in the previous 9 matches before this, with 4 wins and 5 draws.
They have met in European Championships on two occasions. In 1996, in the opening fixture of Group B, France defeated Romania by 1-0. Again in 2008, they met in the first fixture of Group C, playing a 0-0 stalemate, both teams got elimated at the group stages after failing to win a single match.
Four of the last Five meetings between France and Romania were draws.
Their last game played on 2011, ended in a goalless draw.
France vs Romania: Prediction
This game is a tough one, though the host are the favourites, being that they have high quality players in their squad and are playing in front of their home fans. But with Romania’s scoring capability and strong defence might prove hard for the Les Blues to break. The game has a might even end in stalemate.
But expect a strong attacking game from the French side in the Euro 2016 opener, but the Romanians will defend strongly. Goals will be far and few to find, but I back France to come out victorious with a lone goal at the end of the game.
MIGMAGING