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| June 6, 2002 | Thursday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 24,1423 |
‘Countrymen will be after my blood if we lose’
PUSAN (South Korea), June 5: France coach Roger Lemerre expects his fellow countrymen to be “after my blood” if France lose their critical game against Uruguay on Thursday.
Lemerre, whose team suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Senegal in the tournament’s opening match last Friday, said he could not predict what would happen against Uruguay.
“The only thing I’m certain of is that everybody will be after my blood if we lose,” he said on Wednesday.
France badly need a victory over Uruguay in Pusan to keep their World Cup hopes alive. A defeat would send the world champions home, while a draw would leave them with only a very slim chance of reaching the second round.
In an interview issued in France, Claude Simonet, the president of the French soccer federation, said no heads will roll if France fail to qualify for the second round.
Asked if he was considering stepping down as coach if France lose again, Lemerre said he had not made up his mind yet.
“I don’t have any comment to make about this,” Lemerre said. “Nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow. I have the faith and I believe in my players. Ironically, it’s certainly the match in which I have the most to win.”
France have not lost two consecutive matches since the 2-1 defeat to Bulgaria in Paris in November 1993 in a World Cup qualifier that cost them a place at the 1994 finals in the U.S. The previous month they lost a qualifier 3-2 at home to Israel.
Uruguay lost their first group A game 2-1 to Denmark at the World Cup finals being co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.—Reuters
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