France has become the first big team to drop points in Euro 2008 as the Les Bleus was held to a goalless draw with Romania in the opening match of Group C. France was definitely the favorite in the match but they could not manage to clinch three points from the match.
France lost their momentum to the packed Romanian defense. In terms of excitement, the match was not something enjoyable as both sides failed to show anything impressive during the match. In the entire match, there was only one shot at goal which came from Karim Benzema, but Romania goal keeper did not have any problem to save it. In Thierry Henry’s absence, the front line of France was not up to the mark. Franck Ribery, Benzema and Nicolas Anelka failed to put up any effective chance in the match. Besides injured Thierry Henry, Captain midfielder Patrick Vieira was also absent in the match due to injury and that lessen the strength of their midfield. However, according to team officials, the midfielder is expected to become fit by the time France takes on Netherlands in their next match in Euro 2008. Romania, on the other hand, was more focused on their defense.
You know that Group C is considered as ‘Group of Death’ in Euro 2008 in the presence of three favorite teams of the tournament: France, Italy and Netherlands. Moreover, Romania is also in good form as they played superb in the qualifying round. France will have to face world champion Italy and Netherlands in the reaming two group matches. So, for France, it would now be very tough to win one of the two tickets of quarter final from this group after sharing points with Romania. On the other hand, Romania played well in the opening match and if they continue their excellent run, winning a quarter final berth is not impossible for Romania.
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Reuters
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