There should be a verb “to Malouda”. Definition: to wander around the pitch without urgency or purpose. Florent Malouda wasn’t the only French player doing that yesterday — they were all at it. France were Maloudering around as if it was a friendly match. So lackadaisical.

The French are known for loving a relaxed lifestyle, but yesterday was not a good time to show off this particular national characteristic. The starting XI all played for clubs who have just finished in the top three of big European leagues. They should know that to succeed you have to work hard without the ball regardless of talent, but when Romania had possession, France didn’t try and win it back — they stood off and waited for their opponents to lose it.

Then there was the lack of invention. This side cannot call on a Platini or Zidane. There were two spoilers, Claude Makelele and Jérémy Toulalan, in the middle and up front, Karim Benzema was everywhere except where he should have been, inside the box.

Romania would send a glass eye to sleep. They piled men behind the ball, contained and frustrated and hoped to nick a win, probably from a set-piece. Still, Raymond Domenech, the France coach, failed to change a game that was drifting away.

Picking Éric Abidal instead of the pacy Patrice Evra at left back was a huge mistake. Evra would have bombed on past the slower Malouda to offer an attacking option. But Domenech substituted his strikers without addressing the reasons why they weren’t getting a kick. He and his players will have to shape up quickly.