Former Manchester United left-back Evra watched on as the Hammers midfield star turned a disappointing draw into a dream start for the hosts in Friday’s curtain-raiser, hitting a stunning 89th-minute victor to secure a 2-1 victory over Romania.
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The France midfielder provided the cross for Olivier Giroud to head in France’s 58th minute opener and then scored a spectacular late victor after Bogdan Stancu had leveled from the penalty spot.
Deschamps then replaced Payet, who left the field in tears of joy having fully justified his selection and shown the sold-out crowd why he was worthy of a place in the team.
“France had not played a competitive game in two years, there was a lot of apprehension”, fullback Patrice Evra, whose silly foul led to Romania’s penalty, told reporters. I have got here by working hard. It was emotional as Dimitri has come a long way and gave everything to be where he is today.
“I don’t know how many minutes were remaining”.
Deschamps had opted for Antoine Griezmann, Giroud and Payet in attack, but it was France’s opponents who threatened to score first.
Payet was in tantilising form throughout the 2-1 victory over a resistant Romania outfit – producing magnificent touches and turn, in a similar vein to French legend Zinedine Zidane.
“Now we’re able to rest up and prepare for the second game”.
Even though he was coming off a superb season in the English Premier League with West Ham, Payet struggled to come to terms with what he had produced in the 89th minute – and burst into tears as he left the pitch after being substituted.
However, Deschamps was less complimentary over Juventus star Paul Pogba, who is one of Europe’s most wanted talents. “That’s why, when you come back to the national team, you feel like an important player”. “It’s quite easy in football when you can bang it in the top corner – it solves quite a lot of problems!” “We know not everything was ideal, far from it”.
Just two weeks ago Giroud was booed off during a warm-up against Cameroon but he scored the first goal in France’s 2-1 win over Romania and the Arsenal striker is convinced he has more than proved his point.
Les Bleus’ star-studded attack had to wait until the 58th minute to make the breakthrough, when Olivier Giroud headed home Payet’s cross.
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“He gave us a match “a la Zidane”, with remarkable moves and incredible efficiency”, Zidane’s former France teammate Frank Leboeuf said on French TV on Sunday.
