France coach Laurent Blanc admitted he feared his side's game with Ukraine would be cancelled after a torrential thunderstorm held up their Euro 2012 group match for almost an hour on Friday.

A sudden downpour sent the players scurrying off the pitch after five minutes at Donbass Arena, but play resumed following a 58-minute delay and France went on to secure a 2-0 win that sent it to the top of Group D.

Having seen his side produce a timid showing in the opening half hour of its 1-1 draw with England on Monday, Blanc said the deluge in Donetsk threatened to upset his players' focus at a crucial moment.

"Our fear was that we wouldn't be able to play the game, because we really wanted to play," he said.

"We were 30 minutes late for the Euro against England and the weather meant that we still couldn't start properly against Ukraine.

"But things were sorted out. The stadium was still in a good state and the pitch enabled us to play.

"We were worried the conditions would make it difficult. We planned certain things in case the pitch didn't let us play, changes of strategy, but we quickly saw the pitch was in good condition and we were able to play our football."

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 06/17/2012 page7)