French coach Roger Lemerre blamed a shortage of quality from his side for a shock 1-0 World Cup opening game defeat by Senegal.
Pape Bouba Diop's first-half goal for unfancied Senegal proved the winner against a French side who twice hit the woodwork.
Lemerre saluted Senegal's performance against his reigning champions who missed the invention of injured star player Zinedine Zidane.
"It's a big, big performance for Senegal," said Lemerre. "They used good tactics and they
played very well.
"But we cannot say, after this result, that the future of the French team in our group is finished."
He continued: "Senegal were well-organised with a five-man midfield.
"When a team are well-grouped together, you need speed and spontaneity.
"We were not able to cut through their defensive net. They had one counter-attack and they scored. That's football but we would have liked a happier start.
"In this kind of match, when a team know what they have to do, it's hard. They did not miss the target.
"It's hard on us but it's up to us to deal better with that type of situation."
But Lemerre remained philosophical about France's chances of qualifying for the second stage.
Lemerre added: "Nothing is ruined, there are two more games to play. If by chance we won those two matches, we'd be in the last 16."
Leboeuf lament
Meanwhile former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf admitted that the world champions had desperately missed injured playmaker
Zinedine Zidane.
"We have run for miles for nothing, " said Leboeuf.
"For the last 15 minutes,
I've spent my time only going back and forth. We needed Zizou
(Zidane) to keep the ball.
"This a collective and not an individual defeat. Zidane can't
be replaced and Youri (Djorkaeff) has done his best.
"You
mustn't put the blame on one person."
"We are really disappointed as we felt we were very close to
something great.
"The Senegalese have had only one chance and they
have scored. On top of that it was a silly goal," Leboeuf added.
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