3) Lloris saves France
Most onlookers expected the home side to dominate proceedings right from the offing, judging from the difference in attacking quality between the two sides. However, it seemed no one told the Romanian players the script - they were the ones who got off the blocks quicker than their French opponents, deploying a high press tactic against a shaky defence, with Adil Rami the expected weak link.
The fact that Rami and Laurent Koscielny hadn’t partnered each other at the back much for France in the past was evident, as a misunderstanding forced them to concede a corner after 2 minutes.
The vulnerabilities in the French defence were now developing into large cracks when they failed to deal with the corner and Stancu had the opportunity to give the Romanians a shock lead, only for his shot from point-blank range to be brilliantly kept out by Hugo Lloris.
Despite keeping the tempo high in the early stages, Romania were unable to capitalise. As the game progressed, chances were hard to come by for them as France gradually found their rhythm and ultimately, the quality to win the game in the end.
