|
SEOUL (Reuters) -- Disconsolate France coach Roger Lemerre knows the world champions cannot afford any more slip-ups following their shock 1-0 defeat to underdogs Senegal in the tournament's opening match on Friday. While Lemerre is fully aware his team need to bounce back with wins against Denmark and Uruguay in group A if they are to avoid an early and embarrassing exit, his Senegal counterpart was determined to keep his joyous players' feet on the ground. "Now we can't afford to slip in the next two games," said Lemerre, who has barely tasted defeat in successful European Championship and Confederations Cup campaigns since taking charge after France's World Cup triumph in 1998. "Six points are at stake and we can't even allow ourselves a draw. "Nothing is ruined, there are two more games to play. If by chance we won those two matches, we'd be in the round of 16." Their conquerors from the tiny African nation, who all play club football in France, can already start looking that far ahead but their French coach Bruno Metsu is taking nothing for granted. "It's no use beating France unless you do well afterwards," he said. "The players have to believe now they can go through to the next round." Quite capable Lemerre believes Senegal are quite capable of advancing further on the evidence of Friday's match. "They were well-organized with a five-man midfield," he said. "When a team are well-grouped together, you need speed and spontaneity and we were not able to cut through their defensive net. "They had one counter-attack and they scored. That's football but we would have liked a happier start." French defender Frank Leboeuf said the absence of the injured Zinedine Zidane was a key factor in his team's inability to unlock Senegal's determined defense. "We have run miles for nothing," he said. "For the last 15 minutes, I've spent my time only going back and forth. We needed Zizou [Zidane] to keep the ball. "This is a collective and not an individual defeat. Zidane can't be replaced and Youri [Djorkaeff] has done his best tonight. You mustn't put the blame on one person." Zidane has a torn thigh muscle and could miss more than one game. "It was very difficult to play tonight as the Senegalese refused to play," said Leboeuf. "They've spent all the time with nine guys behind the ball and our strikers had very little room to express themselves. "Now we have no choice but to notch two victories and to try to score as many goals as we can. I hope we can beat Uruguay (on June 6)." Physical game France defender Bixente Lizarazu was in agreement. "It is no good us going over and over that game in our heads," he said. "It might have been a different game if David Trezeguet had not hit the post in the first half. You need a bit of luck. "But we should not analyze this game too much. We have two games to play. They defended really well and played a physical game. I am sad. We did not expect that." For Pape Bouba Diop, the ecstatic scorer of the game's only goal, the match fulfilled a career ambition. "It was great to score -- I've always dreamed of that, scoring against the champions of the world," he said. His midfield team mate Khalilou Fadiga, who was at the center of allegations of a jewelry theft in the week before the match, said his country had proved a point to the big guns of world football with the result. "I'm happy for everyone in Senegal because there were some big teams who did not respect us and I am not talking about France," he said. "When we were getting ready for the World Cup there were some teams who did not want to play us. They said we were small-fry."
|
