Belarus vs France - France forward Olivier Giroud not taking Belarus lightly

Posted Tuesday, September 06, 2016 by PA

Olivier Giroud insists France will not be taking Belarus lightly as they begin their World Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday.

Didier Deschamps' men fell just short of a first major success in 16 years when they lost to Portugal in the final of Euro 2016, but enjoyed a promising run out against Italy last week.

The 3-1 victory, with goals from Anthony Martial, Giroud and Layvin Kurzawa, claimed an impressive win for Les Blues and put the disappointment of Paris behind them.

Looking ahead, Arsenal striker Giroud has urged his team-mates to remain focused despite admitting they are favourites to qualify from Group A ahead of Holland and Sweden.

"The Netherlands are rebuilding and Sweden lost Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) and begin a new era," he told Le Parisien.

"Bulgaria, Belarus and Luxembourg are weaker than us, (but) we must not fall into complacency and rest on our laurels."

On the trip to Minsk, he added: "I don't know this team (Belarus), we haven't had time to study them.

"We expect a difficult match but it's up to us to make it easy.

"They're well into their league season so physically they'll be in top shape, which won't be our case, me especially."

Captain Hugo Lloris will be missing in Minsk having suffered a hamstring injury for Tottenham, leaving Raphael Varane to lead in his absence, while Dimitri Payet is expected to replace Martial despite the forward's goal on Thursday.

Payet told www.fff.fr: "We said during the Euro that there are no longer big nations and small nations, players are at an interesting level internationally.

"We saw at the Euro that the difference between teams was not as big, every match was difficult."

Deschamps added at a press conference: "They (his players) are all available and in condition to play. For some, it (physical condition) is better than before against Italy.

"This is a qualifying match which will require determination and maximum concentration as for any game.

"Belarus can create problems and we must be prepared to defend and defend well."

Belarus, who are aiming to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since the split of the Soviet Union, beat Norway in a friendly last week thanks to a second-half goal from Sergey Krivets.

The two sides have met only four times before, with the most recent match-up coming in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, with France prevailing 4-2 and 2-1.