Lilian Thuram has admitted that France were not convincing in their Euro 2008 warm-up games.
France defender not worried by warm-up performances
Lilian Thuram has admitted that France were not convincing in their Euro 2008 warm-up games but believes they will fire once the tournament starts.
Les Bleus have beaten Ecuador 2-0, drawn 0-0 with Paraguay and defeated Colombia 1-0 in recent friendlies without looking like contenders for the trophy in Austria and Switzerland.
However, they also struggled to qualify for the World Cup in 2006 before overcoming a sluggish start to make the final.
Thuram, the favourite to captain France if Patrick Vieira is ruled out with a thigh injury, does not feels his side should ever be written off.
"The summary of our three (warm-up) matches is that we don't have many answers," Thuram told reporters.
"We have our doubts but when we are in that situation it usually makes us play better."
France have been pitted against Romania, Holland and Italy in Group C and coach Raymond Domenech accepts that his men will have to improve to progress to the quarter-finals.
"I hope we can step up a gear during the tournament," Domenech said before France left for their picturesque base overlooking Lake Geneva.
"We believe we're ready but only after our third match will we find out if we were better prepared than our opponents."
