France and Romania prove to be equally strong

France has been here before, when it stumbled to a scoreless draw in its opening match at the World Cup before making it all the way to the final.

	France and Romania prove to be equally strong
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This time, however, the recovery act could be a lot harder to pull off.

"Now every match lost means elimination," France coach Raymond Domenech said.

Les Bleus were held to a 0-0 draw by Romania on Monday in a defensive match at the European Championship almost entirely lacking in scoring chances.

"Maybe the French are bored with playing at the highest level and let us Romanians win a point," Piturca said.

With captain Patrick Vieira out injured and record scorer Thierry Henry on the bench, France edged possession but failed to penetrate a Romanian back line led by Gabriel Tamas, with regular defensive pick Cristian Chivu in midfield as part of a formation drawn up by coach Victor Piturca.

It may have been conservative, but it worked.

Domenech noted the similarities between the match and the 0-0 draw with Switzerland in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. France followed that with a 1-1 result against South Korea, and secured a place in the second round with a 2-0 victory over Togo.

"The history of this match is almost exactly the same: the heat, the field, the stadium were reminiscent," Domenech said. "That match was also tense, but that's always the case in the first match."

The result leaves France and Romania with one point in Group C, the toughest of the competition's first round. France plays the Netherlands on Friday and then finishes up against Italy next week.

That looks a lot tougher than South Korea and Togo.

The best chance fell to France striker Nicolas Anelka in the 33rd minute. After a short corner, Franck Ribery's cross into the Romanian box evaded everyone, bouncing up high to Anelka at the far post. The 29-year-old Chelsea player had time to pick a spot with his header, but sent the ball over the crossbar.

France seemed intent on controlling the match early, spreading the ball around the midfield with ease but failing to penetrate. Without Henry, who has not trained in four days, France's tactical play lacked creativity. The team has yet to disclose the nature of the 30-year-old FC Barcelona striker's injury.

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