France’s Giroud looking to silence “mudslingers” with goals

Payet wasn’t even in the squad on November 13 when the Stade de France was hit by extremists during a friendly match against Germany – part of devastating attacks across Paris that are at the heart of national emotions for Euro 2016.

France was revelling in a victorious start to the Euro 2016 on Saturday after winning the opening match, but a strike by Air France pilots threatened to disrupt travel for hundreds of thousands of fans.

He thrived, playing a part in both goals as France beat Romania 2-1 Friday at the Stade de France.

French train drivers have also been on strike for days, and garbage collectors, too.

The influential CGT union, which is driving much of the action, may meet with the government over the weekend.

Meanwhile rubbish was piling up uncollected because of a continuing strike by binmen.

France looked set for an opening draw until Payet took the ball on the right flank, cut inside and struck a venomous drive to send the crowd into raptures.

In the pursuit of victory, Deschamps brought on the promising Kingsley Coman – to become France’s youngest ever player at a major tournament – and Anthony Martial, but it was Payet, for so long far from the manager’s plans, who proved their inspiration.

“The image of France is at stake”, sports minister Patrick Kanner said this week, calling on unions not to “spoil the party atmosphere” and arguing the tournament can be an opportunity for a bitterly divided country to unite behind the national team. Matches will be broadcast on Belarus 1, Belarus 2 and Belarus 5.

“We struggled to get out the blocks but the reward was at the end”.

Some 90,000 police and private security guards are being deployed to protect players and supporters, including 13,000 in the capital alone, where soldiers could be seen patrolling with submachine guns.

Thousands of fans chose to watch the match at the giant fan zone near the Eiffel Tower, where they could have a picnic on the lawn while watching the action on giant screens after undergoing security checks similar to those at the game venues.

“There is a lot of security here, but it’s OK”, said 20-year-old Ruairi Scott from Belfast, downing pints.

“Not everything was flawless, far from it. Romania showed they are well organised and they caused us a lot of problems, but it’s very important to start with a victory”.

Security was tight at the Stade de France and fans had been urged to arrive early to have time to go through a double security perimeter with two successive security checks under the watchful eyes of armed police with bulletproof vests.

Hundreds of fans hurled bottles and other objects at police, who responded with tear gas.

Marseille was the scene of some notorious clashes between England and Tunisia supporters during the 1998 World Cup, and the authorities are keen to avoid a repeat.