Romania 2 France 2 – World Cup Qualifier

Last night France fought back from two goals down to rescue a point against Romania. Florentin Petre stunned Les Bleus on 6 minutes by putting the hosts ahead with a right-footed shot and they doubled their lead 11 minutes later when Dorin Goian scored from a header.

17 minutes played and already 2-0 down (against Romania of all teams!) and it already looked unlikely that France were going to be able salvage anything from this game. But Les Bleus came back well, scoring in the 37th minute through Ribery.

In the second half France were dominant and put constant pressure on the Romanian . Gourcuff also came into his own, pulling strings in the midfield and feeding Ribery with perfectly measured balls, allowing him to terrorize the defenders. The pressure finally told and in the 69th minute Gourcuff scored with a 35 yard shot and ultimately earning France a point in Constanta. 

Romania vs France Preview

This is probably one of the most straight-forward previews I’ve had to do. My opinion on tonight is simple – France have to be positive and aggressive. They have to be creative and score goals In a word, France have to badass. Nothing else will do. Thats because this is Romania.

Our draw in the opening game of Euro 2008 against Romania four months ago was symptomatic of all that had been wrong with France Football over the last two years (or even since the beginning of Domenech’s reign, according to some). That result was criminal and our attitude baffling. One point against Romania is professional suicide in a group containing Italy and Holland and yet our team played for a draw with alarming determination and focus.

That game typified the negativity of France’s play over the last two years – an attitude which had been present even as far back as four years ago. If France are to show that they have adopted a new footballing philosophy then a positive display from them tonight is imperative. We cannot go back to playing like that again. And nothing will indicate that nothing has changed like another negative game against Romania.