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One more defeat and we are out, says France coach

CLAIREFONTAINE, France: France is in a make-or-break position in its bid to qualify for Euro 2008, coach Raymond Domenech said on Tuesday.

"We have a gun pointed at our head. That's good, it's going to motivate us," Domenech said.

France travels to the Faroe Islands on Saturday before taking on Lithuania in Nantes on October 17. Les Bleus, who will travel to Ukraine next month, are third in Group B, one point behind Italy and two behind leaders Scotland.

"It's like playing Cup matches - we lose a game, we're out. We know that," Domenech added.

"We will have to fight and play much faster," he said, referring to France's 1-0 shocking loss to Scotland last month.

"If we want to qualify, we need to win our three remaining matches."

The World Cup finalists will be without Manchester United striker Louis Saha, who pulled out of the squad on Tuesday with a knee injury.

Colombia's Cordoba says he won't play under coach Pinto

BOGOTA: Defender Ivan Ramiro Cordoba has written to Colombia's soccer federation saying he will not play for the national side as long as Jorge Luis Pinto is coach.

The letter, made public by the federation on Tuesday five days before the World Cup qualifier at home to Brazil, brought an angry reaction from Pinto, who criticised Cordoba's performances at the Copa America.

"After the Copa America finished, I made it known to professor Jorge Luis Pinto that while he was in charge of the team, I would not be part of his squad," wrote Cordoba.

The letter said nothing has changed in Cordoba's mind since then.

"This decision has been taken only and exclusively because of the multiple differences of thinking between the technical staff and the players, reaffirming the lack of confidence I have noticed since the start."

Koster appointed head coach of Ajax

AMSTERDAM: Adrie Koster will take over as head coach of Ajax Amsterdam for the rest of this season, the Dutch first division club on Tuesday.

Koster, who was responsible for the reserves, replaces Henk ten Cate, who is in talks with Premier League club Chelsea.

As coach, Koster worked previously at Willem II Tilburg, Roda JC Kerkrade, Excelsior Rotterdam and RKC Waalwijk, where he was sacked last season.

Media reports said the Amsterdam-based club had wanted national team coach Marco van Basten to take over but that was not workable for his employer, the KNVB.

Ajax are second in the first division, one point behind Feyenoord. They were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Dinamo Zagreb last week, their worst European campaign in 20 years.

(China Daily 10/11/2007 page23)