Catastrophic France need instant healing while others don't falter

By John Bagratuni Sep 4, 2010, 10:37 GMT

Berlin - France failed to shake off its World Cup ghosts as it crashed 1-0 against Belarus in the opening Euro 2012 qualifier.

'Catastrophic,' screamed the front-page headline of the L'Equipe sports daily on Saturday after the previous night's woeful showing as the players were jeered off the pitch at the Stade de France.

Le Figaro's website said that 'les Bleus are already with their back to the wall' after the first game, with a difficult trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina following on Tuesday.

The outcome marked the worst possible start into competitive action for new coach Laurent Blanc, and a post-game dressing room visit by the nation's president Nicolas Sarkozy did not likely improve his mood.

Blanc took over after a disastrous World Cup on and off the pitch from Raymond Domenech. Coach and players were received warmly by the fans but substitute Sergei Kislyak stole the points for Belarus with four minutes left as the hosts rarely threatened.

Blanc readily conceded that the outcome was something like a nightmare and he was particularly unhappy that defeat came so late.

'When you can not win, you should at least not lose. We could have taken a point,' Blanc said afterwards. 'We are in a difficult period, we are not smiling.

'We must regroup for Bosnia. It is an important game, with this defeat, it becomes even more important. We must prepare for this game from tomorrow (Saturday) onwards.'

Blanc will be happy when the likes of Franck Ribery return from suspensions imposed by the French football federation over the World Cup antics which included striker Nicolas Anelka being sent home and the other players going on strike over it.

Portugal, meanwhile, had coach Carlos Queiroz banned over a doping issue and Cristiano Ronaldo sidelined with injury as it was held to a 4-4 draw by visiting Cyprus in the day's other surprise result.

But most of the favourites made no mistakes.

World champions Spain strolled 4-0 past Liechtenstein as they started their Euro title defence, runners-up Netherlands prevailed 5-0 in San Marino and semi-finalists Germany showed in a 1-0 win in Belgium that they continue winning without captain Michael Ballack.

New coach Cesare Prandelli was happy with a 2-1 victory in Estonia as Italy started its comeback from a first-round World Cup exit.

Another Italian coach, Fabio Capello, got a breather as his England team defeated Bulgaria 4-0 from Jermaine Defoe's hat-trick and Wayne Rooney.

'We were excellent, I'm really happy. ... Rooney did everything perfectly what I asked of him, and Defoe was also really, really good,' said Capello.

The Daily Telegraph said on Saturday: 'The road to atonement is a long one, demanding further progress than a quick stroll past limited Bulgarians down Wembley way, but this was an encouraging evening for England and Fabio Capello.'

The paper spoke of 'a monster result' under the circumstances and the Daily Mail saw 'at last a team that looks like England' - which Capello and his players must confirm it on Tuesday in Switzerland as part of the next 23 games.

Only the nine group winners (and the best second-placed team) qualify directly for the 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine.