Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Hosts France go into their second group game knowing that a win would secure a place in the Round of 16 and with tournament debutants Albania as the opposition you would have to imagine that even with the weight of a nation on their shoulders they will secure qualification by the end of the evening
They had Dimitri Payet’s stunning 89th minute winner to thank for coming out of the State De France with all three points. Romania very nearly ruined the opening night party but with that hurdle cleared you would imagine that they will play with a bit more freedom
Paul Pogba was disappointing by his own high standards on Friday Night and he will look to kickstart his campaign with a solid performance against Albania
Oliver Giroud will continue the love hate relationship he has with the French fans, he may have scored the opener on Friday but he still hasn’t quite won over everyone in attendance but if he continues to find the net and add go the run of form which has seen 8 goals in 6 matches then you would imagine those boos to dissipate
It was substitutions that arguably turned the game against Romania a D Didier Deschamps will have to decide as to whether or not Kingsley Coman and Anthony Martial have done enough to warrant inclusion from the start
As for their opponents Albania they will have to make do without Captain Lorik Cana after his Red Card against Switzerland on Saturday. The former Marseille Defender failed to lead by example as his teammates went down 1-0 to Switzerland
But even with 10 men they created chances and if it wasn’t for the acrobatics of the Swiss Keeper they would have come away with at least a point
They will certainly have to make sure they start better than they did against Switzerland on Saturday. A goalkeeping error was the worst possible way to start and going 1-0 down after five minutes was not would have been planned in the pre-match team talk
But with France already with a win on the board the pressure won’t be on them as much as when they played Romania. If they can get a win Tonight then the belief in the camp will start to increase and it will set them up nicely for their final group game against neighbours Switzerland
Albania were always going to be up against it, even more so now that Cana is out suspended so even if he was playing I wouldn’t have been able to see anything other than a France win. Two wins from two for the hosts by the end of the night.
