| France's hopes of booking a direct passage into next summer's
World Cup finals suffered a setback after they were held to a draw
by Romania in Paris tonight.
The hosts had gone ahead after 48 minutes when Thierry Henry
forced home from close range, but the equaliser arrived eight
minutes later when Julien Escude turned the ball into his own
net. The result leaves France four points adrift of leaders Serbia,
who they meet in a crunch match in Belgrade on Wednesday.
The result is likely to pour pressure on France coach Raymond
Domenech who opted to start star winger Franck Ribery on the bench,
no doubt with Wednesday's game in mind, while Escude was preferred
to Barcelona defender Eric Abidal.
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