The 4-1 defeat of France by the Nertherlands took the Oranje on to join Portugal and Croatia in the last eight, but left France needing to beat world champions Italy in their last Group C game in Zurich on Tuesday and hope that Romania don't win against the relaxed Dutch. It was the worst defeat for Les Bleus since 1982, when they went down 4-0 to Poland in a friendly. Yet the France team atttacked repeatedly and created plenty of chances. France goalkeeper Gregory Coupet, in his first major competition since succeeding Fabian Barthez as number one, said after his worst night in international football: "It's not the end of the world but it's a huge knock. I've never had such a reverse on the international scene. "But we weren't humiliated, we had chances. As for them, they had an incredible success. "Now we have to lean on the good atmosphere in our group in a bid to bounce back against Italy." Coupet added: "The Dutch have players of great quality. Honestly, that team has everything!" Meanwhile striker Thierry Henry, who scored France's consolation goal, described the defeat as "difficult to accept". He disputed German referee Herbert Fandel's decision not to give a penalty in the 50th minute when Andre Ooijer appeared to get a hand on his shot. "I saw Ooijer touch the ball with his hand. He should have had a red card. Referees see things differently." Henry, who is France's all-time top scorer with 45 goals, added: "It's hard because on the commitment and playing level we weren't ridiculous. But at the end of the day we were up against a Dutch side in great form. "It was a bizarre game, I haven't had many like that in my career where we had lots of opportunities, we played well, but at the end we lost 4-1. "Now we know that we have to beat Italy whilst Romania must beat Holland. It's do-able, but it's' going to be a knife edge game with the Italians."
Bayern Munich defender Willy Sagnol felt the scoreline was not a fair reflection of the game. "4-1 doesn't reflect what happened," he said. "The Dutch were efficient but we produced some interesting play. When they didn't have the ball they weren't comfortable. But hey, they scored at the best moments." As for striker Sydney Govou, he complained: "4-1 - it's far too heavy a defeat. Their success is insolent."
Chelsea's Claude Makelee felt the early first goal by Dirk Kuyt was decisive. "Conceding an early goal destabilised us. We were well in place but they did what they had to. They made us run. "We came back to 2-1 which gave us time to breathe then their third goal cut the ground from under our feet. "It's a shame. Now we have to try to win the last match. It doesn't only depend on us, there's also the result of the Dutch game against Romania. "But we have to remain solid and try to go all out in the last game. "If we're going to leave we have to leave with our heads held high."
Mark Hinton, Goal.com
Bayern Munich defender Willy Sagnol felt the scoreline was not a fair reflection of the game. "4-1 doesn't reflect what happened," he said. "The Dutch were efficient but we produced some interesting play. When they didn't have the ball they weren't comfortable. But hey, they scored at the best moments." As for striker Sydney Govou, he complained: "4-1 - it's far too heavy a defeat. Their success is insolent."
Chelsea's Claude Makelee felt the early first goal by Dirk Kuyt was decisive. "Conceding an early goal destabilised us. We were well in place but they did what they had to. They made us run. "We came back to 2-1 which gave us time to breathe then their third goal cut the ground from under our feet. "It's a shame. Now we have to try to win the last match. It doesn't only depend on us, there's also the result of the Dutch game against Romania. "But we have to remain solid and try to go all out in the last game. "If we're going to leave we have to leave with our heads held high."
Mark Hinton, Goal.com
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