1-1 draw with England, happy at least that his side did not lose,
while Roy Hodgson said he was ''obviously pleased''.
France coach Laurent Blanc admitted to ''mixed feelings'' at the end
of his side's 1-1 draw with England in their opening Group D encounter
in Donetsk. ''We're disappointed not to have won it but glad not to
have lost,'' he said, before praising Samir Nasri for his equaliser.
Opposite number Roy Hodgson expressed satisfaction with a hard-fought
point, hoping the game will give his charges ''a good platform'' to go
on at UEFA EURO 2012.
Laurent Blanc, France coach
We have mixed feelings, but I think the English feel the same. England
had a very good 20 minutes, but paradoxically we got back in the match
after we conceded. They caused us problems, but we got a deserved
equaliser and in the second half we could have scored a second, even
if there weren't too many chances.
Overall, I think the draw was fair for both teams. The fact that it
was hot on the pitch didn't favour the side that attacked most, and
France attacked most. We're disappointed not to have won it but glad
not to have lost. And we didn't deserve to lose.
I thought we were timid at the start and I don't know why. England
didn't dominate but they had chances. We don't want to repeat that
experience of starting slowly but maybe it was something we needed to
get over. I hope we'll be ready from the first minute in the next
game.
We've always supported Samir. Coaches always want their talented
players to live up to their potential, but you have to be patient with
some players more than others. Nasri needed that and he rewarded us
tonight. We have an attacking potential and we've progressed in that
area. The other good news is that we defended well and didn't pick up
any cards.
Roy Hodgson, England manager
I'm obviously pleased, for the players most of all. The conditions
were difficult for both teams and I thought both teams showed
incredible spirit to keep going. I thought we started both halves
well, but we suffered a period of pressure before the end of the half
as France finished well and unfortunately we conceded. I'm glad to get
this game out of the way and I'm now looking forward to the rest of
this competition.
The French, as we know and as most people who watch them know, flood
the midfield. They try to drag your defenders out of position. It was
very important that our midfielders stuck to their task. The two
central ones did very well, and the wide ones deserve to be mentioned
as well.
I think [Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain] deserved his place. He's got that
ability when he gets in those positions to turn people around. I
thought he did quite well, I thought he was quite dangerous. I told
him: 'Don't get hung up on this performance and remember there'll be
lots more games to come in an England shirt.'
Excuse me if I'm a little circumspect, but I've had three games. You
don't become a good team in three games and ten training sessions. The
French have now gone 22 games unbeaten, if I'm not mistaken. Hopefully
we'll just get better when we get players back from injury and Wayne
Rooney back.
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