Blanc urges players not to take Sweden for granted
France coach Laurent Blanc called on his players not to underestimate already eliminated Sweden in their final Group D match on Tuesday and risk losing out on a Euro 2012 quarter-final place. The 46-year-old - who took over after the 2010 World Cup debacle - takes his side into the game on a 23-match unbeaten streak and while even a 1-0 loss could still see them go through he doesn't want the players to adopt this mentality when they kick off. The French have four points after a 1-1 draw with England and then a 2-0 win over co-hosts Ukraine and top the group on goal difference from England while the Ukrainians are a point further back. It puts the French within touching distance of reaching the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time in six years and Blanc does not want to see this chance go begging. "There is a risk of losing your concentration when you win whatever the match, even more so at a European Championship," said Blanc, a member of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winning sides although he was suspended for the '98 final. "There was obviously joy and satisfaction after the match against Ukraine but after that we had to get straight back into our preparation for this game. "There is a team who is playing for a place in the next round and a side who cannot qualify but is going to try and win the game. "It is vital we do not underestimate the Swedish side." Blanc, who said all his players were fit and he would select his strongest side regardless of whether players risked being suspended for the quarter-finals, said that avoiding defending champions Spain in the last eight was not his primary objective. The top two in Group C and Group D meet in the quarter-finals. "No, we will watch the matches (on Monday) but we will not take it any further than that," he said. "We know what we have to do, we will see who has qualified, who is first and who is second but what we do against Sweden will not depend on the results from Monday's matches. "Our desire is to win Tuesday's match. We are not anticipating what could happen. We will play the match and not think about who will be our next opponent."
