DIMITRI PAYET revealed the ’emotion’ of the occasion after he left the Stade de France field in tears following his stunning winner against Romania.
The West Ham star spared French blushes with a superb late thunderbolt into the top corner – saving Didier Deschamps’ team from a shock draw against Romania in the Euro 2016 opener.
After being substituted by Deschamps, the 29-year-old burst into tears as he headed for the dugout.
Payet, who has only broken into the national team this year, was easily the best player on the park even before his winning goal, supplying Olivier Giroud with a perfect cross for the opening French goal.
He said: “It was a lot of stress, a lot of pressure, if someone had told me it would have gone like that I don’t think I would have believed them.
“It was that emotion that came out in the goal.”
Payet added: “At the start of the season, a lot of people would have found it hard to believe I would be here.
“I have got here by working hard.”
France had missed a number of chances in the first half in front of a tense crowd.
Giroud eased the tension just after the break but Patrice Evra then conceded a penalty.
Bogdan Stancu converted and the game looked to be heading for a shock draw – before Payet’s brilliant winner.
Payet said: "We knew that we were a bit timid in the opening quarter of an hour. We were afraid of making mistakes.
"Then we settled, but they defended very well. We managed to find the back of the net, but then they levelled things up.
"The crowd helped us as well, we know how important the three points are and now we can relax and rest up for the next match."
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