Dimitri Payet has revealed that his initial doubts about not being in the France squad for the 2016 European championship led to his emotional outburst after he scored the winner in the first match Friday night.
Payet provided an assist and scored a cracker, to help France beat a stubborn Romanian side in the opening game of the Euros.
Commenting after the game, the West Ham midfielder said playing in the Euros is like a dream come true.
"At one point I was a long way from being here tonight. I've worked hard and showed a lot of determination."
"That's why I felt very emotional tonight. I am very happy to be here tonight and I'm enjoying it to the fullest."
"If someone had told me a year ago it would be happening this way, I wouldn't have believed them."
"It's a lot of stress and pressure. With that goal, everything just came out."
The former Marseille player admitted that the win against Romania didn't come easy.
"The fact we won at the end fits what we said. No easy games. We will have to fight."
COMMENTS
The euro nations cup has shown conclusively that England is the best league in europe. I read that England provided 138 players as against 2nd Germany with 67 players. The French team is benefiting from this as they have about 5 players in the 1st XI. The best 3 are from England-Payet, Geroud, Kante. The captain and goalkeeper is from the England league. A defender and a substituete Martial are from the England league. Will France win the tournament? I wish them to but there are other stronger teams that would have beaten them if Romania were Germany, Spain, Italy or even England. I really wish France to win as host and silence that blackmailer Benzema.