EURO 2016 Kicks Off With France Versus Romania

On the same day the book closes on the storied life of the late, great Muhammad Ali, a new story will begin to unfold on the other side of the Atlantic.

EURO 2016 kicks off at 3 p.m. (EST) today, with the opening match between, host nation France, and Romania at the Stade de France in Paris, highlighting one of the most-watched sporting events in the world.

EURO pits Europe’s top national teams against one another in a winner-take-all tournament that runs exactly one month, culminating with the final on July 10.

The last French-hosted soccer tournament took place in 1998 when France hosted the World Cup and promptly took home the title with a 3-nil win over Brazil in the finale.

French Manager Didier Deschamps left Real Madrid star Karim Benzema off of his roster for EURO, which was met with much criticism, as well as accusations of racism launched by Benzema and others.

READ: Benzema Accuses Manage Of Racism

Deschamps refused to go into detail regarding his pep talk with players ahead of the tourney’s opener, but he did allow time to discuss the emotion surrounding the opening match.

“It’s the opening match and everything that it represents … You need to have that feeling in the pit of your stomach, that clenched jaw when you walk out onto the pitch,” Deschamps said.

France enters the tilt with a 10-match unbeaten streak against Romania, but that doesn’t mean the hosts are taking their opponents lightly.

Both Deschamps and captain Hugo Lloris believe the hype surrounding the idea that France is the favorite, not only in the opening match, but in the tournament as a whole, is a bit premature.

“We don’t feel like favorites,” the French goaltender said. “We’ve done nothing. We’ve proved nothing.”

Lloris’ comments come in reference to a nine-match winning streak that the French have mustered in their recent experience on the pitch. But Lloris dismissed the streak as merely a confidence builder that could maybe generate a little more noise in their home stadiums, but nothing more.

Deschamps offered a more technical assessment.

“(Romania) have a solid base. They don’t just whack the ball into touch, they know how to use the ball.”

France’s manager has cause for concern, the Romanians have drawn four of the last five contests between the two teams.

Romania’s head coach Anghel Iordenscu believes his team will be fighting an uphill battle, but cautions that there is no reason to believe his side cannot prevail.

“I expect France to begin the match in aggressive fashion but I’m sure my players are ready and determined to overcome these spells of domination,” Iordanescu said. “We are going to follow our strategy, we don’t want to simply play defensively, we want a balanced style of play. France do have some shortcomings at the back.”

PREDICTION:

France- 2 Romania- 1

France is too seasoned and the energy of the crowd will be all they need to lift themselves to victory in the opening match. Lloris will get the back organized and may even scratch his name on the scoresheet. Another draw is possible, but I find it hard to believe that France will fail to secure victory on its home turf in the opening match of EURO 2016.