2) France struggle to find their fluency against a resolute Romanian defence
Romania finished Euro qualifying as the best defensive side, and that was very evident in the way they set up and allowed France to take the initiative for large periods of the game. They must be credited for maintaining their shape and sticking to their tactics against one of the tournament favourites.
Olivier Giroud was well marshalled by the two centre-backs, while the holding midfielders got right in the face of the likes of Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi to ensure that the French were unable to string together a set of slick passes and were forced to rush their moves up the pitch.
They may consider themselves unlucky to end up with nothing in the bag – falling prey to a goalkeeping mistake and a first-class moment from Dimitri Payet.
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