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Les Bleus seek Belarus revenge

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-03 08:14

France and Italy the heavy favorites in Friday's Euro 2012 qualifiers

PARIS - France coach Laurent Blanc is hoping the surprisingly good form of his squad helps get "Les Bleus" back on a positive footing as they seek revenge against Belarus in a Euro 2012 qualifier in Minsk.

Italy, Sweden and Croatia are also among the more fancied teams in action on Friday as qualifying for next year's championships - to be held jointly in Poland and Ukraine - resume following a two-month break.

In that time the spotlight has fallen, somewhat unfavorably, on top officials at the French Football Federation (FFF) after an insider submitted evidence which alleged proposals were afoot to introduce race quotas at the youth level.

Blanc, who was hired in the wake of France's disastrous World Cup campaign in 2010 - where leading players voted on a players' strike - was implicated in the scandal but cleared following an internal investigation.

Since replacing Raymond Domenech at the helm of the multi-racial Bleus, Blanc has steered France to top spot in Group D with four wins from five games. Its only defeat so far was against Belarus at the Stade de France last year.

"We didn't play well (against Belarus)," conceded Blanc on Wednesday following a two-day training camp which calmed any lingering concerns he had about the match fitness of key players.

"We were too sluggish and lacked bite against a team that defended well and scored a goal against us when we were defending badly. On Friday, we will have to defend well."

Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery's season finished on May 7, while defenders Eric Abidal and Patrice Evra both played in the Champions League final for Barcelona and Manchester United respectively last Saturday.

On this week's evidence at training, Blanc is relaxed: "We were starting to wonder if the players had already entered holiday mode, but the past two days I've been pleasantly surprized.

"Franck looks quick and is raring to go. Abidal is desperate to play, and so is Evra."

Italy is in a similar position to France, sitting top of Group C with four wins from five games ahead of Estonia's visit to Modena.

The 'Azzurri' have never been beaten by Estonia, although the Baltic minnow gave the World Cup winner a fright last September in Tallinn by taking the lead in its group opener only to lose 2-1.

Italy would do well to be wary of an Estonia side which produced an eye-catching 3-1 win against Serbia in its only away match to date in the campaign.

Sweden, meanwhile, heads to Chisinau for a match against Moldova which could see it close the gap to runaway Group E leader the Netherlands.

Coach Erik Hamren will be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the AC Milan striker recently suffered an ankle knock, meaning Johan Elmander and Ola Toivonen are likely to spearhead Sweden's attack.

Sweden has two games in hand on both the Netherlands and third-placed Hungary. Victory in Chisinau would allow Hamren's side to close the gap on the Dutch to six points ahead of its next qualifier against Finland next week.

In other matches, Croatia hosts Georgia in Split with the chance of leapfrogging Euro 2004 champion Greece - which hosts Malta on Saturday - at the top of Group F.

In Group A, Germany can consolidate its five-point lead over Belgium with an away victory against Austria in Vienna, while Turkey can jump up to second place if it beats Belgium in Brussels.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 06/03/2011 page22)