So here it is! The long awaited festival of football will underway tomorrow and the opening fixture of the competition will be played between the hosts France and Romania. Didier Deschamps’ men will be entering the competition with a great spirit.
On the other hand, Romania are considered as one of the underdogs, but should definitely not be taken lightly as they will also be getting on the pitch with their head held high as they defeated Georgia 5-1 last Saturday in their last friendly game.
The French side will be hoping to get a comfortable win out of the fixture to send a strong message to the fellow teams competing in the competition. The french squad will be stuffed with the stellar names and a great footballing battle is expected.
France vs Romania Team News-
The hosts will be without their star man Karim Benzema as his manager Deschamps did not consider him for the tournament due to be ongoing legal issues. It is expected that Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud will be kicking off the game even after being booed by the fans during the win over Cameroon in Nantes, but the striker responded in style and bagged 2 goals in a 3-0 win over Scotland.
Romania do not have any injury issues, and are expected to give a tough fight to the hosts. Romania are not considered as a threat, but their defence is capable of stopping any attack in the world as they have the services of Napoli defender Vlad Chiriches and Rayo Vallencano’s defender Razvan Rat.
France vs Romania Predicted Lineups-
France-
Lloris
Sagna; Koscielny; Ramy; Evra
Pogba; Kante; Matuidi
Griezmann; Giroud; Payet
Romania-
Tatarusanu
Sapunaru; Mot;, Grigore; Rat
Pintilii; Hoban
Popa; Stanciu; Stancu
Andone
France vs Romania Prediction-
France have a wonderful record against the Romanians and are unbeaten in the previous 9 matches (4 wins, 5 draws). But in the Euro, the sides have met just twice; first in 1996 where the French defeated the Romanians by a close deficit of 1 goal to nil, and then in 2008, where the game ended in a goalless draw. The game is surely a tough one as both the sides will be looking to get a positive result to get a perfect start in the tournament. Romanians lack the attacking ability when compared to France, but their back four can cut the comedy for the French attack, but we do see France winning the game as their midfield is one of the best in the tournament and can add a great attacking flair to the squad.
France 2-0 Romania