Kante: Nothing will come easy for France

"The first opening match, it was not an easy game against a good team from Romania. It was important to win, we did tonight and that is the thing to remember," Kante said after France's win over Romania.

N'Golo Kante reckoned that it will not be an easy tournament for host France.

N'Golo Kante says France's 2-1 win over Romania in the Euro 2016 opener proves that there will be no easy games for the host.

France is among the favourites for the title, particularly with the tournament being played on its home soil, but it faced a resilient Romania to open its campaign.

The brilliance of Dimitri Payet, who scored a trademark stunner in the 89th minute, won it the game, and Kante said it was good for his side to face such a challenge from an unlikely opponent early on.

"The first opening match, it was not an easy game against a good team from Romania. It was important to win, we did tonight and that is the thing to remember," Kante said.

"We had no particular pressure. At the beginning of the game, they had chances, but we were able to react, we managed to score first and win. We have to continue because the other matches will not be easy.

"We know that this is a competition, it is not friendly matches, there will be nothing easy. The most important thing is the victory. We must now plan on the next game and play a better way.

"We knew it was going to be complicated, but this is a team that is confident and we demonstrated that today.

"First we will enjoy tonight and for the next matches, we'll try show a better face even if the win is the most important."

Kante was also keen to praise Payet, who he says has nothing to prove after a brilliant season in the Premier League with West Ham.

"Dimitri, we know him, he had a great season. Today he made an assist and scored a goal, we hope it will continue like that," the Leicester City star said.