FRANCE 98 – France-South Africa – Ph. Troussier: “The France team is very well organised and very realistic”

Philippe TROUSSIER, coach of the SOUTH AFRICA team (Group C):

“The FRANCE team is in top form and we owe them a great deal of respect. We are very happy to have given them a decent fight with the arms at our disposal, and with a will to make life difficult for them.

The score was heavy against us, but we weren’t beaten in the game itself.

I think the FRANCE team is very well organised and very realistic. It shows the difference in having a young side such as ours. This being said, the World Cup is not yet over for us.

We played the match with an open mind. Beating FRANCE would have just been a bonus. For us, the real challenges will come against DENMARK and SAUDI ARABIA. There are still six points at stake, and we’ll be aiming to gain as many as possible.

FRANCE will do everything it can to ensure they qualify, and that will help us.

From tomorrow, we’ll be starting to prepare for the match against DENMARK on Thursday.

It’s never easy to play against FRANCE with all its big name players. In this match, the goals scored from set pieces were vital.”