Euro 2008 Live Blog: Romania v France

Romania 0-0 France FT

France: Gregory Coupet, Eric Abidal, William Gallas, Willy Sagnol, Lilian Thuram, Claude Makelele, Franck Ribery, Jeremy Toulalan, Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka, Karim Benzema.

Romania: Bogdan Lonut Lobont, Cosmin Marius Contra, Dorin Goian, Razvan Rat, Gabriel Tamas, Mirel Matei Radoi, Cristian Chivu, Razvan Cocis, Adrian Mutu, Daniel Niculae, Banel Nicolita.

18:52: Hurray! Full Time and this pile of dross is over.

18:50: Radoi off for Dica.

18:42: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

18:36: Mutu off for another Niculae.

18:34: Benzema off for Nasri.

18:29: Anelka off for Gomis.

18:28: I am still awake...not sure how but I am. I did just spend five minutes sorting out my laptop battery though.

18:21: Codrea comes on for Cocis.

18:15: Benzema has his first real chance. From a ball pulled back to the edge of the area, he drills it straight at Lonut.

18:13: It is all Romania from nowhere. This game though isn't helping be function after just four hours of sleep last night.

18:10: Mutu drills it straight at the wall.

18:09: Mutu runs at the French defence and wins a free kick just outside the box as Sagnol sees yellow for the challenge.

18:07: Malouda finally does something. Takes on Contra and beats him all ends up before firing high and wide.

18:03: The French team are pretty lethargic coming out for the second half but we are eventually under way.

17:48: Arguably the worst 45 minutes of 'action' so far in the tournament.

17:46: 0-0 HT

17:46: Romania actually tried to attack and the French looked all at sea at the back.

17:43: Goian joins his colleagues in the book for a rather blatant looking foul on Benzema.

17:39: Contra booked for kicking the ball away - really was very harsh.

17:36: Another chance for Anelka. The Chelsea front man does well down the right hand flank before drilling an effort into the side netting from an acute angle.

17:32: Anelka with the first real chance of the match heads over from a beautifully worked short corner. Should've done a lot better.

17:26: Niculae booked for handball - what an idiot. A ball into the box where Romania had a good chance but he chose to handle it. What can you say?

17:21: Makelele with a pretty horrible challenge that goes unpunished.

17:17: What a pass from Makelele - the Chelsea midfielder plays Malouda in with a 40+ yard ball that the keeper just gets to by hook or by crook. Wonderful pass though.

17:09: Benzema rattles one over from distance. Mark Bright drools over him, they seem to think that he is going to be the next big thing.

17:07: All Franc so far but they've yet to create a clear cut opening.

17:02: France are lively but as the commentator just said - Anelka has only played in two major tournaments - stunning.

17:00: Great Success! We are back and we are off.

16:57: Prediction - France 1-1 Romania

16:55: Drama here as our MacBook with EyeTV goes down - only minutes to go to kick-off...

16:51: Here we go folks. Live from TalkFootball HQ today. No Henry, No Vieira, No Diarra...this France team is full of surprises. Romania are as expected.