France coach Raymond Domenech has played down the
importance of Friday's friendly defeat to China but admits there is
some cause for concern.
The defeat capped a series of disappointing results which has
seen them held to a 1-1 draw by Tunisia and come from behind to
narrowly beat Costa Rica 2-1. But Domenech insists he can turn
things around in the next six days.
"There are always reasons to worry when you lose a match and
when you don't score a goal,'' he said. "No-one's going to say
that's a joy, a pleasure.
"There are days like that when what you see on the pitch makes
you think you could have done better. We lacked freshness and
spontaneity. With regard to all the chances which were created,
there was something missing, that was obvious.
"Now I'm not saying that it's not worrying, but it's only a
warm-up game. We still have a week of work to prepare for another
match - that against Uruguay.''
France paid the price for their profligacy as the 1998 world
champions dominated possession but failed to find the cutting
edge.
The French press have lambasted the team after they lost to a
nation ranked 84th in the world, while the ecstatic Chinese media
are hailing a historic night. However, Domenech believes there are
many positives to be taken from the game.
"Look at the match and the number of chances we had, especially
at the end,'' he continued. It's true that once again we're asking
ourselves how we could have missed them, but it's also the match
where we created the most of them.
"That's the positive side. We just lacked the last touch, the
dangerous positioning. Once again, I don't say that it's perfect,
but it's better.''
soccernet
