Blanc: 'Very average'
16/11/2011
France coach Laurent Blanc was disappointed with the lack of goals in France's 0-0 friendly draw with Belgium on Tuesday, but is holding out hope for improvement when he has his full squad available.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
International friendly, Stade de France
France 0 - 0 Belgium 
Laurent Blanc (France coach): "We were very average tonight. People expect goals. We all expect goals. When there are no goals, it's necessarily disappointing. I hope that in the months leading up to the Euros the players will regain their top form. But it's not all negative tonight, even though we could have turned in a better performance in attack. Between now and May, many things can happen. There are players who are injured and I hope to have them back on the pitch. We'll have all the lads back together in February against a Germany side that is clearly better than the USA and Belgium."
Mamadou Sakho (France defender): "With some game time, we can accumulate some confidence. With Adil [Rami], the understanding is there, we communicated well. The team lacked a bit of verve going forward, but on the whole we didn't concede many chances on goal and we monopolised the ball. At the back, we could have contributed more going forward. It’s a team effort."
Olivier Giroud (France striker): "The real truth only comes out in competition. But I won't lie to you, it was tough. I was very happy with my performance against the USA but tonight, I came out of the match frustrated. But it gives us a chance to take stock. Getting game time is a good thing, but for a striker you need to be as decisive as possible all the time. I need to be more focused, because that's what makes the difference and it's often how matches are decided."
Marvin Martin (France midfielder): "Defensively, we were spot on. They didn't manage to create an awful lot of scoring chances, but then again, neither did we. They were big tough guys but we stepped up and gave it all we had. In attack, I was hoping we would do much better. In the first half, I dropped deep a lot to get on the ball but in the second I pushed up to give us options going forward. We remain unbeaten this year, which was one of our objectives. If we come up against big sides at the Euros, we'll do our best to be up to scratch. In Germany, we'll be put to the test against a side who play beautiful football and score a lot of goals. I've always said we can go a long way; we just need to keep working hard and not give up - and score more goals."
George Leekens (Belgium coach): "I'm fairly pleased with how we played. We've got a young team that's gaining in maturity and I'm happy with the character and enthusiasm they showed. We rushed things a bit going forward, but I think we were solid in defense."
Eden Hazard (Belgium midfielder): "It's good that we didn't concede any goals, but perhaps we should have scored one. We know France well; they have lots of smaller players who are comfortable on the ball. They didn't play an extraordinary match, but they are a quality side. With the quality of their players, France can go a long way in the Euros. They'll be the dark horse of the competition."