Match 05 - Romania v France / Dave Farrar / 08 June 2008 / Leave a comment

It's the presence of Romania, rather than that of the three bigger football nations, which makes Group C the nightmare that it could turn out to be.

France are the first of the fancied teams to face Victor Piturca's well disciplined, underrated group of players. The French team have been struggling for goals, and Raymond Domenech has rightly chosen to rely on the new superstar of French football, Karim Benzema who is going to start.

This guy is going to be one of the best in the world, and is certainly a confident selection to top score for his country and a value one to do the same in the tournament. This will be his first appearance in a major championship, and so he may take a game to settle in, and with France not being the greatest starters on big occasions, they can't be a confident selection to win their opener.

Romania's performance in their qualifying campaign was excellent. They cruised to the group win, and lost only once, away in Bulgaria. They lost to Israel in a warm up match, but beat Russia comfortably and are clearly primed for a big performance at Euro 2008. In Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu they have two of the best players in Europe, and they're so good at the back that Chivu plays in the centre of midfield, giving them a strong spine. Watch out as well for Cosmin Contra and Razvan Rat, the two marauding full backs.

In short, I think that Romania will come out of the game with both credit, and a draw. That could put them on the way to a surprise qualification. So, while I fancy France to win Euro 2008, I'll lay them in their opening game at [1.89].

CORRECT SCORE

It's no criticism of France to say that they'll struggle to beat Romania. If you take the view that Holland and not Romania are the weakest side in this group, then it's the Dutch that must be beaten, and not Victor Piturca's well drilled outfit. It would be no shame for France to fail to win this one, and I think that both teams will score, and that it will finish 1-1.

HALF-TIME

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I see this as another game which will be tight going into half time. There's no reason to believe that Romania will be anything but solid, and Raymond Domenech, who is a cautious coach, will instruct his side not to take any unnecessary risks, and to try not to lose the match, rather than go all out to win it. I advise you to back the draw at half-time, and as it's rapidly becoming clear in the opening few matches of this cagey tournament, this could be a profitable route to take, and the [2.2] on offer here is more than generous.

FIRST GOALSCORER

There are two names to watch in this market, one from either side. For Romania, the giant centre back Dorin Goian got a couple of big qualifying goals, most notably in the home game against Holland. He must be backed to score first and at any time. Chances will be few and far between in this game and set pieces, delivered by Adrian Mutu, are the most obvious route to goal for Romania. From a French point of view, the name to consider is that of Franck Ribery. He scored 11 goals in his first season at Bayern Munich, and takes penalties for the French. Given that he'll more than likely stay on the pitch for ninety minutes (you never know what Domenech is going to do with his other forward players), I'll take him to score first, and in the "to score" market.

CORNERS

In qualifying, both of these teams were in the middle ground with regard to corners won. This isn't to say that make ups will necessarily be low, but laying nine and under corners isn't a stand out play, as it already has been with Portugal, and will turn out to be with the team with the highest corner count in qualifying, Spain. This is a market which you shouldn't always play, and this is one of those occasions to leave it alone.

Tags: Dorin Goian, France, Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema, Romania