After a disappointing 1-1 draw with England, France was looking to pick up 3 points against the Euro 2012 co-host, Ukraine. While France disappointed, Ukraine surprised everyone by beating Sweden 2-1. Both national teams had a good chance of winning this game. Of course, I was rooting for France, my Euro 2012 team (after Spain)

It got off to a pretty crazy start. Both teams came out on to the field and started playing. It had been raining a little bit before the game started, but after less than 10 minutes of play, the officials decided the field was no longer safe to play on. There was just too much thunder and lightning above the stadium.

So both teams left the field, while the officials debated on what they’d do. They’d decided to wait it out and see if the rain would clear up. Almost an hour later, the match finally resumed. And immediately, France was in control of the game. It looked like a goal was coming soon from the French, and when it finally did, it was called offside. The game was 0-0 at HT.

The 2nd half started off with both teams attacking. Finally in the 53rd minute, France scored and it counted. Jeremy Menez was the goal scorer, and Karim Benzema assisted the shot. Three minutes later Yohan Cabaye doubled the lead from France, scoring his first goal for his national team. Guess who assisted this goal? Yup, the Real Madrid player, Benzema, with his 2nd of the match.

France continued to have more chances and dominate the game, but the weren’t able to score any more goals. The game ended 2-0 in favor of France.

This shouldn’t be a  surprise to anyone, but the man of the match was Karim Benzema. France’s next and final group game will be against Sweden. Sweden, who were knocked out of the tournament by England later in the day, will have nothing to lose, which will make them a very tough team to play against. France is currently leading Group D on goal difference. If they win their group, they will play either Italy or Czech Republic in the QFs.