By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
June 10 – The waiting is over, the anticipation at fever pitch. France, looking to win their third European title following their 1984 and 2000 triumphs, finally kick off their Euro 2016 campaign tonight with both coach and captain seeking to downplay their role as favourites.
The World Cup may be regarded as the pinnacle of most players’ careers but France’s captain, Hugo Lloris, says nothing comes bigger than the next few weeks for himself and his teammates in terms of a career-defining occasion – especially with the whole country behind them and the Stade de France packed to its capacity.
“We need to be very strong from a mental perspective. If we put in the energy levels on the pitch everything else will follow,” said Lloris on the eve of the game. “You can make mistakes but as long as you have the right mindset, the desire to win challenges and a competitive spirit, if we harness that we can achieve great things. The French public expect a real show but they’ll be even further behind us if they see the French side winning football matches.”
The bookmakers have installed France as favourites ahead of Germany and Spain. But the skipper is having none of it.
“We don’t feel like favourites at all,” Lloris said. “We haven’t done anything, we haven’t proved anything so far if we compare ourselves to Germany and Spain – the reigning world and European champions. We are the hosts, we need to make the most of that to give us added strength. The fact we’re playing at home where we’ve won nine of our last 10 matches gives us a certain confidence.”
France coach Didier Deschamps (pictured) wants his team to play with collective feet on the accelerator – but not too gung-ho. He has been there and worn the T-shirt: captain when Les Bleus won the World Cup in this same stadium in 1998; and captain again when France was the Euros in 2000.
But running the show from the sidelines is different. “Clearly you need to strike the right balance,” he said. “You need to have some butterflies because we haven’t achieved anything yet. We need to get out there and do it, without looking at any permutations, without any pressure, without feeling fragile.”
“The aim is to score the opening goal as early as possible. But we must not think that Romania are an ultra defensive side. They are also able to come out, press high up the pitch to provoke mistakes and when they have the ball they can use it very effectively.”
Romania have recently proved to be a tough nut to crack for France, with the two sides drawing four of their last five encounters – though they have not emerged victorious against Les Bleus since 1972.
The Romanians, who on paper will do well to get out of the group, are at full strength and head coach Anghel Iordanescu, in his third stint in the job, will ask his team not to just sit back. “France do have some shortcomings at the back,” he says.
That suggests the Romanains have something up their sleeve but the veteran 66-year-old was giving little more away.
“We’re honoured to be able to open such an important tournament and against the host nation who are one of the favourites. But we hope to show we are a real match for the French.”
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