France wary of clever Scots

By Alasdair Sandford

They have talent and they also have a soul, a passion that we saw in the first match and in other games Raymond Domenech on Scotland

Disparaging remarks about Italian football led to France coach Raymond Domenech being banned to the stands for his side's goalless draw against Italy in Milan last weekend.

The punishment has failed to cramp his style ahead of Wednesday's clash with Scotland at the Parc des Princes.

At the French squad's training headquarters at Clairefontaine, the French coach was on his usual form - praising his opponents, while unable to resist the odd dig.

At Hampden, the Scots had played from "the bunker", he said. Perhaps for the return match they would attack more.

He stood by his claim that Scotland were best placed to top the group because they had dropped the least "silly" points among the leading contenders.

He would not be drawn on whether France would be seeking revenge for last October's 1-0 defeat. But he repeated his criticism of events off the pitch during the match in Glasgow.

It was not very "fair-play", he said, to teach ball-boys to hold the ball up when the home team was winning. The Scottish Football Association was ultimately warned by Uefa over the matter.

Yet Domenech acknowledged that Scotland were a clever and dangerous team.

"We know the Scots," he said. "They have top-level players from big English clubs and the two big Scottish clubs.

"They have talent and they also have a soul, a passion that we saw in the first match and in other games.

"I think that in terms of athletic commitment they will be superior to what the Italians showed us".

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French captain Patrick Vieira - who last year said France had fallen into Scotland's "trap" at Hampden - was equally praiseworthy of the Scots.

The game would be "really tough, really strong, really difficult," he anticipated.

"We know how strong they are and it will be a fight for the 90 minutes. But we will be prepared for it."

France will be without Thierry Henry, who is suspended after picking up a yellow card in the San Siro. Surprisingly, the Barcelona striker was unaware until after the match that he would have to sit it out against Scotland.

The French have several alternatives to partner Nicolas Anelka up front - David Trezeguet, Karim Benzema, Sidney Govou or Samir Nasri.

Trezeguet has fallen out of favour with Domenech in recent months

On paper, Trezeguet would be the automatic choice; his scoring record for France and his current form with Juventus, are impressive. But he has barely been picked by Domenech over the past year and has been at odds with the French coach.

Substituted in Glasgow, having hardly had a touch, Trezeguet found the experience a bitter pill to swallow.

"If Scotland qualify, it's serious because, frankly, they don't resemble a football team", he was quoted as saying afterwards.

The match has been scheduled at the Parc des Princes because the Stade de France is also being used during the rugby union World Cup.

The pitch is said to be in good condition, despite fears that it might have been churned up by the match between South Africa and Samoa last weekend.

In another little jibe, Raymond Domenech said Scotland would love it if a bumpy pitch forced the French to play "in the air".

A win would put France in an excellent position in Group B. But the French know the Scots are likely to put up more resistance than during their last visit to Paris in 2002, when Zinedine Zidane led the charge in a 5-0 drubbing.

And France have their own bad omens. Playing at the Parc des Princes still brings haunting memories of 14 years ago, when successive flops against Israel then Bulgaria ended in the failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals.