While his decision to field Payet ahead of the likes of Anthony Martial and Kingsley Coman would have won him many accolades, his decision to play Griezmann out wide might have backfired to some extent.
Advertisement
Today Payet is a hero; a year ago he was a zero, subbed off at half-time in the 1-0 defeat against Albania by a furious Didier Deschamps.
As awesome as Payet was all game long, and as wonderful as his goal (on his wrong foot) was, the most important thing though comes from elsewhere. Only the win mattered on Friday.
“He had chances and he’ll be one relieved man”, he told Match of the Day. “We can’t win like this every time but that was handsome”. “Only the result is important tonight”, acknowledged Bacary Sagna after the match.
“I have got here by working hard”.
In what can only be described as a sensational goal, Dmitri Payet who was clearly the best player on the pitch curled a lovely shot into the top corner which was assisted by Leicester City player N’Golo Kante.
The action continues on Saturday with three matches, beginning with the other two teams in France and Romania’s group – Albania and Switzerland.
Some half-a-million British fans – half of the total estimated 1 million foreign visitors – are reported to be among the 7 million supporters in France.
If Payet’s rising shot from outside the area showed the best side of “the lovely game”, the ugly side was provided by supporters in Marseille’s Old Port, as police repeatedly clashed with fans from France, Russia and England deep into the night. Patrice Evra conceded his first ever worldwide penalty as the second half wore on and Stancu was on hand to covert before Payet’s moment of brilliance settled the result in style. “It was a huge game, it is out of the way now and we can focus on the rest and improve”.
Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud opened the scoring in the 57th minute courtesy of a Payet assist, but Bogdan Stancu equalised for Romania from the spot after Evra fouled Nicolae Stancui in the area.
France will be aware that the performance was far from flawless. Defensively, especially those of Adil Rami and Patrice Evra (who gave away the penalty) are a concern, so is the form of Griezmann, taken off after just 66 minutes.
Be proactive – Use the “Flag as Inappropriate” link at the upper right corner of each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Another six, and France will win Euro 2016.
The former Marseille player admitted that the win against Romania didn’t come easy.
After a triumphant start to Euro 2016, France braced for more strike disruptions and hooligan violence as England face Russian Federation in a high-risk match Saturday.
Advertisement
Despite the potential disruption to the football championships, the French government is refusing to budge on a law it says will help reduce unemployment.
