Laurent Koscielny admits that France will treat their tie against England like a final

Question

The http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 as his
absence will dampen England’s sting...
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Laurent-Koscielny-c21742 has come out and made it clear that France will find it tough to compete against England in the opening match of their European Championships’ campaign. The Arsenal defender who is well aware of his English opponents
at the international level revealed that France will not underestimate England despite their lack of record at the European Championships and try their hardest to win the opening encounter of group D.
England will be without Wayne Rooney for the group stages of the tournament something that might play into France’s hands given the tremendous amount of energy and inspiration that the Manchester United man brings into the England
setup.  Not only that, according to recent reports it is quite possible that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Frank-Lampard-c14097 will also miss out on the opening match against France for the Three Lions which will make things relatively easier for the Les Blues.
Koscielny said, “Our first match is like a final for us. Play against England is the worst possible draw but it will be an enormous chance for us to progress if we win. We can't afford to lose. Normally you might expect http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899
and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 to qualify for the second phase but football never works like that.”
He added, "We know this is like a final because defeat would be a disaster. The absence of Rooney is a joy to us. He is a brilliant player, such a talent. But England have quality.”
It will be interesting to see how France deal with England’s tactics in the opening encounter as Roy Hodgson is set to start with Andy Carroll as the lone striker in order to exploit the lack of aerial ability in the French back
line. However England will not be the favourites against France by any stretch of the imagination which mean that the pressure will be on the Les Blues to get the crucial win.