Deschamps relishing France-Romania opener
Saturday, December 12, 2015
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The French players are all talking about lifting the trophy on 10 July, but Didier Deschamps is not looking beyond the UEFA EURO 2016 hosts' 10 June meeting with unknown Romania.
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The official UEFA EURO 2016 slogan is 'Le Rendez-Vous', and while many of the France players cannot resist talk of meeting up for the final in Saint-Denis, Didier Deschamps' focus is already trained exactly a month earlier: on the curtain-raiser against Romania.
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Didier Deschamps, France coach
It could have been worse. We know two of our opponents really well. Albania, because we played two games against them recently – though it's worth remembering that we didn't manage to beat them. And Switzerland we faced during the World Cup. We know them, they know us.
We know less about Romania, but they had the best defence in qualifying, conceding only twice: five wins, five draws. The opening game, the most important one, will be against Romania. It's a real source of pride to be able to start this tournament. It will be here in no time.
Eliaquim Mangala, France defender
No easy opposition in Group A. We'll have to battle with them to advance and win the EURO at home. Motivated.
Antoine Griezmann, France forward
Whoever we're up against, the primary aim in the EURO is to go all the way.
