Euro 2016 Match Day 1 Review
International football is here again and at this level, it is about the team that gets to the opposition goal twice and
scores at least once, very fine margins. With that in mind let’s see what the first round of matches had in store for football fans.
Group A
France (2) vs Romania (1)
The tournament began with the hosts and after the pre-tournament scandals they really felt the pressure on the pitch in the first 15 minutes. Afterwards, It was the Dmitri Payet Show, creating 8 chances while everyone else on the pitch created 9. He assisted Giroud in the 57th minute and then in the 89th minute, he found himself surrounded by a host of yellow shirts on the edge of the box after receivingthe ball from Kante and exquisitely put the ball in the far left corner with his left foot. In between both goals Evra conceded a penalty that was scored by Bogdan
Stancu in the 64th minute. He came close to scoring for Romania in the first half, forcing a save from Lloris in the 18th minute. Despite the late blow, Romania executed their tactical plan very well. They were aggressive and played a high line because Giroud doesn’t have the pace to stretch them. They have the potential to
cause an upset.
Supporting Points
• Deschamps decision to substitute both Pogba and Griezmann for Martial and Coman and place Dmitri Payet in the no10 position paid off
• With two wingers, the Romanian defence was stretched giving Payet more room to operate and he did.
• Prior to that Griezmann and Giroud kept making similar runs although Griezmann hit the post in the 14th minute his contribution was minimal.
• Payet coming into the middle made the French attack click and Kante’s ball use was exceptional.
Albania (0) vs Switzerland (1)
Also known as the Xhaka derby, it ended with Granit coming out on top. An early goal
from Fabian Schar was enough to give the Swiss 3 points in a game where Lorik Cana
received the first red-card of the tournament after a second yellow in the 36th
minute for hand ball. Dzemaili hit the post from the subsequent free kick. After the
red card and the goal, Sadiku came closest for the Albanians in the first half- he
had a one on one with the goalkeeper but Yann Sommer came up on top. In the Final
minutes Gashi found himself in acres of space and one on one with Yann Sommer, the
Swiss stopper emerging the victor yet again.
Supporting Points
• Eight of Albania’s Euro 2016 squad could have played for
Switzerland and five of the Swiss players were eligible to play for Albania
•Albania’s goalkeeper Etrit Berisha was culpable for the Swiss goal, he grew into the game afterwards
• Granit Xhaka looks like what Francis Coquelin would be if he were
left footed and had access to Maria Sharapova’s daily supplements
• Although Granit Xhaka, who completed the most passes, was named man of the match (101 Completed passes with an 88% Pass Accuracy), Yann Sommer was outstanding in goal.