Laurent Blanc: France players focused
France manager Laurent Blanc has revealed he is pleased with the focused attitude displayed by his squad and is hoping that will help the team restore some national pride after the debacle at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The team’s campaign in South Africa was shambolic and saw the squad boycott training after Nicolas Anelka was sent home from the camp when he insulted then coach Raymond Domenech. France failed to win any of their group stage games and finished bottom of their group having picked up just one point and scored one goal
However, Blanc has insisted that the dismal World Cup campaign is in the past and he is looking forward to a bright new future for the national team.
Ahead of France’s first UEFA 2012 European Football Championship qualifying match against Belarus, Blanc told reporters that he had been hugely impressed by the mood in the training camp, which he hoped would translate into a positive result in tonight’s game.
'Attitude is there'
He said that: “The attitude, the determination is there. I'm delighted with the way the players are handling themselves. Now, the most important thing remains to be done — to try to take that out onto the pitch.”
The French Football Federation revealed yesterday that it has sold around 65,000 for the crucial clash at the Stade de France and Blanc was pleased that ticket sales had been higher than expected following the poor World Cup showing.
He said that: “There will be a lot more people in the stadium than we thought. That's a good thing. I hope they'll be behind their team throughout the match. The players know what's expected of them, particularly in terms of their behaviour and attitude, but I hope they'll also show their footballing qualities.”
As well as Belarus, France will face Bosnia, Romania, Albania and Luxembourg as they bid to win a place at the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine.
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