The Hindu : Sport / Football : Les Bleus eager to show its true colours

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Monday, Jun 21, 2004

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Les Bleus eager to show its true colours

PORTO, JUNE 20. Jacques Santini has no doubt France will qualify for the quarterfinals when it faces Switzerland in its final Euro 2004 Group `B' match in Coimbra on Monday.

Les Bleus need only a point against last-placed Switzerland to reach the last eight.

The defending champion struggled in its opening two games, twice coming from behind to secure a 2-1 win over England and a 2-2 draw against Croatia. Santini puts his team's indifferent start down to ``fatigue and lassitude.''

``We're only at 80 per cent of our capacity, but we will get stronger,'' he said.

With one point so far and having finished both group games with 10 men, the Swiss should not pose too great a threat. Nevertheless, the French remain wary.

Midfielder Patrick Vieira, who is set to win his 72nd cap on Monday, is also circumspect.

``Allowing three goals in two games makes us ask ourselves questions,'' the Arsenal captain said. ``We want to sort this out. The danger is when we lose a bit of concentration.''

Although unbeaten in 16 months, France is still some way off the mark it set almost a decade ago. Between February 16, 1994 and October 9, 1996 the team did not lose in 30 games.

``It's normal that people expect more from the French team,'' Vieira said.

Henry, who is scoreless in five games for France, urged his teammates to step up their performance on Monday.

``We have had two games in adversity, we could have found ourselves with zero points. Now it's time to move on,'' he said. ``Our goals have not come from nice moves. We need to show our true colours.''

Meanwhile, Trezeguet needs one more goal to pull level with French legend Just Fontaine and Jean-Pierre Papin with 30 strikes. Should he score on Monday, only Michel Platini with 41 would have scored more.

France beat Switzerland 2-0 in a friendly in August on goals from Sylvain Wiltord and Steve Marlet.

England needs a draw

England also needs a draw against Croatia to advance to the quarterfinals. It's been there before — and failed. And that's something Croatia is more than willing to take advantage on Monday at Lisbon's Stadium of Light.

Four years ago at Euro 2000, England only needed to avoid losing to Romania in Charleroi, Belgium, to advance to the last eight after beating archrival Germany 1-0. After leading 2-1 early in the second half, England went down 3-2 and was eliminated from the competition.

``We can't afford to get carried away but we are in a position where we need just need to draw,'' England captain David Beckham said.

``We have been in this position before at the last championships when we beat Germany and ended up losing. It is unthinkable that we should go out at this stage, with the team and the players we've got. We can't even think about going into this game wanting a draw, we must go into it wanting to win.''

England's aim is to reach the semifinals, going one better than its quarterfinal berth at the 2002 World Cup, where it lost to 10-man Brazil, the eventual champion.

Croatia, seeking to rediscover its glory days of the 1990s, needs a win over England to advance from Group `B'. It was lucky not to beat defending champion France on Thursday, rallying from a goal down to take the lead before having to settle in the end for a 2-2 draw.

``Every time France doesn't win a football game it is a surprise,'' England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said. ``I think it (Croatia) played very, very well and it will be a tough game on Monday for us.''

France leads Group `B' with four points, followed by England (3), Croatia (2) and Switzerland (1).

All the teams still have a theoretical chance of making it into the final eight.

England's edge could be 18-year-old striker Wayne Rooney, who became the youngest ever scorer in European Championship history when he scored twice against the Swiss.

``Rooney, Beckham and the others are brilliant players, but we are playing against the entire team,'' Croatian coach Otto Baric said.

``Rooney is an exceptional player, but we knew that. We also know exactly how the English team plays and we can, and will, find a solution to stop both Rooney and England.''

England's only worry is yellow cards — Rooney, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard and David James all have one and another booking would rule them out of the quarterfinal match.

The Croatians have nine players on a yellow including striker Dado Prso and midfielder Milan Rapaic, who have both scored at this tournament.

England last played Croatia in an August 20 friendly last year in Ipswich. Frank Lampard scored his first international goal as substitute in the 3-1 win.

``I think we know quite a lot about them from watching their players in Europe,'' Lampard said.

``We know they are dangerous and technically gifted. They always have good players. We know what we will be coming up against and we will have to be ready.''

Baric, who this week celebrated his 71st birthday, is convinced Croatia can cause an upset. A quarterfinalist at Euro 1996 and semifinalist at the 1998 World Cup, Croatia is seeking a return to the glory days, when a golden generation starring Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban and Robert Prosinecki could match up to any of the world's top flight teams.

— AP

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