Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery were a class apart as France put the finishing touches on their Euro 2012 preparations with a 4-0 home win against Estonia in Le Mans on Tuesday.    

Benzema netted either side of halftime after Ribery had opened the scoring following a fine one-two with the striker as Les Bleus stretched their unbeaten run to 21 matches.

Winger Jeremy Menez completed the rout in stoppage time.

With Samir Nasri and Ribery on the flanks and Benzema up front, France played some nice one-touch football although they sometimes looked shaky at the back.

After fullback Patrice Evra produced a miserable performance in a 3-2 win against Iceland in their first of three Euro warm-up games, it was Philippe Mexes's turn to raise concerns.

Estonia almost caught France cold twice in the opening 15 minutes, with a poor first touch from Mexes allowing midfielder Henrik Ojamaa to shoot narrowly wide across goal.

Ojamaa then got ahead of Mexes to meet a left wing cross but, off balance, could only volley wide.

CROSS SHOT

Laurent Blanc's side, who start their Euro 2012 campaign against England on Monday in Donetsk, Ukraine, went ahead in the 25th minute when Ribery chested down a Benzema pass just inside the box before firing past Sergei Pareiko with a cross shot.

Seven minutes before the break, Benzema sent a curling shot into the far corner of the net to double the tally and scored his 15th goal for France by latchig onto Ribery's cross from the right.

Second-half substitute Menez added the fourth one minute into added time when he collected a fine backheel pass from Olivier Giroud to score from close range.

France travel to Ukraine on Wednesday before taking on England followed by co-hosts Ukraine and Sweden in Group D.

Opinion

Editorial

A new deal
Updated 16 Jun, 2026

A new deal

AFTER three and a half months of war between US-Israel and Iran and an acrimonious temporary ceasefire, a genuine...
Charter of economy
16 Jun, 2026

Charter of economy

NO one expected the PTI to accept the government’s invitation to sign a charter of economy; just as few expected...
Hostage seamen
16 Jun, 2026

Hostage seamen

SOME 50 days on, 11 Pakistani nationals are still in Somali pirates’ captivity. Their appeals to the Pakistani and...
Climate choices
Updated 15 Jun, 2026

Climate choices

The country is confronting increasingly volatile weather patterns with consequences for agriculture, infrastructure, public health and economic planning.
Brief opening
15 Jun, 2026

Brief opening

WE have been here before. Throughout the weekend, there was great anticipation that a tentative framework for peace...
Environmental disaster
15 Jun, 2026

Environmental disaster

IT was a heartbreaking sight. A recent news report in these pages carried a picture of a sea turtle lying half ...