Romania vs. France - The match I've been waiting for

90' (+3): And it over... What a big waste of time this match was. ESPN guy says it was an excellent result for Romania. It was a bad result for both teams!

90' (+3): and a late sub. Radoi leaves and Dica comes in for Romania

90' (+3): A free kick for Romania. Last chance?

90': Oh man!!! That sucks! Not even the argument was interesting! And the referee is going to toreture us with 3 more minutes

89': hahahaha... Yeah!!! Some drama... That's what's we've been missing on this match...

86': And it's cleared. The rebound!!! Nope, bad cross... the ball goes wide and far from the goal

86': Ok, a corner for the French

85':

85': Well... after that awful pass by Makelele I can only say that this match DESERVES this score...

81': And nothing happens

81': But Romania has a corner

80': We are 10 minutes away from the first 0-0 of this 2008 Euro

80': Deep ball for the Romanian offense. But Daniel Niculae was offside

78': Tand Mutu leaves the pitch, Marius Niculae comes in. Any comments Horia?

78':

More subs coming up:

 Benzema makes way for Nasri. The Arsenal new kid

76': Another shot from France. Malouda. But the ball, once again, goes out for a goal kick

75': Did I say that too early? What kind of back pass to the keeper was that?

74': Ribery tries to take on defenders but is blocked. Romania is not being effective up front but the defense is playing very well. Very solid!

71': Anelka is leaving and the crowd goes crazy. A very young attack for France now: Gomis and Benzema

71': Here comes Gomis!!!! yyyaaayyy  (I'm not cheering for France but I like this kid)

68': Romania is really worried about France's attack. The yellow heads went back to the defensive formation after starting the second half better.

65': Benzema leaves Chivu down and takes a shot from the top of the box... the ball goes wide. Nice try but it's time for a sub for France, I guess

64': Here comes a sub for Romania: Cocis leaves the pitch and Codrea comes in... A midfielder for another midfielder

61': One hour of football and no score. Actually not many chances to score either. =(

59': Malouda tackled Contra from behind. The Romanians asked for a card but the referee is waving their complaints

58': First clear shot for Benzema. A perfect set up from Ribery but Benzema's shot was too soft and easy for Lobont

56': Nice hell pass from Mutu and the cross almost finds a head in the box. But France's defense controls it and slows the game down

54': Romania are looking better indeed but they still can't find the right ball, the right pass, the right play...

51': But nothing comes out of the free kick

51': Sagnol moved up and lost the ball then, comes back and tackles Mutu from behind. Foul and yellow card for the French

49': Great play for Malouda on the left side. He runs with the ball, turns Contra around, once, twice and shoots... the ball flies over the bar

47': Frenchi goes wild next to me!!! He wanted a foul called on Ribery...

45': And we're back on for the second half!!!

Half Time: So far 5 total shots for France but only one on goal. 3 total shots for Romania and also only one on goal.  Niculae, Goian and Contra were shown yellow cards.

Half Time:

I had a lot of expectations for this match. France has probably the best midfield and offensive squad of all the team in the competition but so far Romania's tight defense managed to control Benzema, Ribery, Anelka and Malouda very well.

On the other hand I expected to see much (much) more from Mutu and Niculae on the Romanian side.  

45' (+1): Romania decided to become dangerous in the end of this first half. The moved the team up to put pressure in France's defense but it was just a little too late. The referee blows his whistle and the First Half is over

45': Corner for Romania. Mutu takes it and another clearance by the defense

43': Goian runs into Ribery. Another fouls against Romania and another yellow card

42': Nice combination Bezema/Ribery and the defender almost put it inside his own goal.

41': Free kick on the left side of Romania's attack. The ball is sent into the box and cleared immediately by the French defense

40': Contra got a yellow card for kicking the ball when it was out of play...

39': The Romanian crowd is funny but the cameras should show some pretty girls now! Just to cheer us up...

37': Great play by Anelka on the right side. He shoots but from a bad angle and the ball hits the side of the net. - Ribery moved to the left side now

33': Malouda crosses and the defense gives another corner. The corner is played short and the second cross finds Anelka's head but the ball goes over the bar

32': 30 minutes has gone by and France is taking the initiative but the French are missing the last touch. The fine touch that was Zidane's trademark. Romania still needs to prove me right and produce something

30': It's actually not that close. And the ball hits the wall... and now a hand ball by Sagnol.

29': Benzema is fouled at the top of Romania's box. The kid is good!

27': France showin more intensity now. Les Bleus are using the wings with Malouda and Ribery. Romania tries to explore the space behind them and Niculae just got a yellow by doing a very theatrical dive mixed with a handball

25': Mutu goes down. Toulalan blocked him illegally ... that's a foul

24': After the corner Sagnol fought for the ball in the air and the referee called it a hand ball... hmmm... I don't know about that

23': Great play by Rbery on the right side. His first play on the match and the cross is cut by Romania's defense for a corner

22': As my friend Lord of The Wing said, Romania is using the incredible 9-0-1 formation

20': France with 60% of ball possession at this point. But Not really finding the necessary space to get close to Romania's goal

19': Anelka receives a pass... but the flag went up. He was off side

18': The ball is lost in midfield and France has a great opportunity. Malouda kept himself onside and Lobont made a great save by stepping up to block that ball

14': After the first 12 minutes the match looks very balanced. None of the teams are risking to give the opponent the opportunity for a counter attack.

9': Frenchi right next to me... is saying... What the F$#CK!!!

9': A chance for Romania with Mutu and a chance for France with Anelka. But both teams are still in the "studying" phase of the match

7': Ribery sets to take the free kick. There he goes and France is still on attack

5': 5 minutes and 3 fouls against Romania

4': Another fouls. Contra almost chopped Anelka's head off

2': First foul of the match. Mutu went like a mad dog to get the ball from Thuram. The Romanians are not fooling around

0': And it's on!!!!

Before Kick Off:

No Thierry Henry, Yes Adrian Mutu...

The crowd is ready. So are Horia and Frenchi ... an me in the middle of course