Group A favorites France (1-0-0, 3 points) will look to continue to showcase their dominance in this summer’s 2016 UEFA European Championship as they face lowly team Albania (0-1-0, 0 points) at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on June 15, Wednesday.
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The Frenchmen, who are expected to top their group in this summer’s edition of the Euros, were not in top form as they pulled out a tough 2-1 win over a hard-fighting Romania eleven during their opening round match last Friday at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, The Guardian reported.
Tricolorii looked satisfied as they almost settled for a 1-1 draw with the hosts and a share of a point in the group standings, but West Ham striker Dimitri Payet broke the deadlock with less than a minute left in regulation with a goal from an assist by Premier League champ N’Golo Kanté to save the day for head coach Didier Deschamps’ side.
The game was goalless in the entire first half of play and it took Les Bleus 12 minutes after the restart to finally net the opening goal, courtesy of a strike from Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud at the 57th off a brilliant cross by Payet.
The Romanians were able to knot the count eight minutes later via a penalty kick from forward Bogdan Stancu, but it was the only consolation they had in the whole match.
Meanwhile, Albania dropped a heartbreaking 0-1 loss to powerhouse team Switzerland in their own opening round game last Saturday held at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens, via Goal.
Head coach Gianni De Biasi’s boys, currently ranked 42nd in the world by FIFA, are not expected to win any game in the group stage as they are also anticipated to lose by a wide margin in all of their fixtures.
Switzerland was able to attack early and score a goal at the fifth minute courtesy of defender Fabian Schar’s strike. Albania’s defense then held their opponents scoreless for the rest of the match, but the problem is the team has not found their offensive touch as well.
It would be tough for Shqiponjat to upset the hosts in this match as La Sélection has too much firepower to surrender to the visitors.
The predicted result is a 2-0 rout for France.
France starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Lloris; Sagna, Rami, Koscielny, Evra; Pogba, Kanté, Matuidi; Griezmann, Giroud, Payet
Albania starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Berisha; Hysaj, Lila, Mavraj, Agolli; Abrashi, Kukeli, Xhaka; Roshi, Sadiku, Lenjani
