FRANCE 98 – France – A. Jacquet: “We shouldn't take Paraguay lightly”

Comments from Saint-Jean-d’Ardières

“Our objective for the World Cup was to get as far as we could. Up to now we have achieved our aim with three matches and three victories. These results justify the choice of team, which was different for each match. Following these three high quality matches, we can now face PARAGUAY in the second phase using the same criteria: confidence and determination. We shouldn’t take the next game lightly, not only we will have to prepare well, we will also have to concentrate.

We didn’t expect to face PARAGUAY in the last sixteen. It’s a passionate team, very compact and they work hard to retrieve possession of the ball. During their games the Paraguayans have grown in stature and have really progressed. The absence of certain players hasn’t changed the quality within the squad, its team spirit or its success. My players understand this and are well prepared.