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Boghossian - No splits in camp

Image: France struggled against Sweden, but are ready to tackle Spain

France assistant coach Alain Boghossian claims a late-night meeting in the wake of a surprise defeat to Sweden has helped to unite the squad.

Les Bleus clear the air in the wake of Sweden setback

France assistant coach Alain Boghossian claims a late-night meeting in the wake of a surprise defeat to Sweden has helped to unite the squad. Les Bleus saw their 23-match unbeaten run brought to an abrupt halt on Tuesday as they went down 2-0 to the Swedes. Laurent Blanc admitted afterwards that things 'kicked off a bit' in the dressing room, with frustrations boiling over after failing to secure top spot in Group D. Staff and players have since held a group meeting in their Kiev hotel, and Boghossian says everyone is pulling in the same direction ahead of a quarter-final clash with Spain. He said: "After everyone had a cold shower and time to cool off, we sat down together at the hotel and talked things through face to face.

Reaction

"Everybody said what he needed to say. That was important because it's like with a couple in that if you don't talk to each other, things can build up. "I'd have been much more worried if there had been no reaction at all and what happened after the game in the dressing room was normal. "We should have beaten Sweden and won the group, but we didn't perform. "That there are exchanges after such a defeat is totally normal. For me, that is wholly positive. The air has been cleared and everyone is happy and getting on well." Boghossian, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, added: "It is true we are considered outsiders because Spain are champions of Europe and won the World Cup.
Improve
"But we will try to make some problems to this very good team, try to create some problems and find some weak points. "Now it is a new start, a new beginning for our players, we will forget the negative result on Tuesday and open a new page. "They are together, they laugh together but they don't want to repeat the performance against Sweden when they face Spain. "During the training since the Sweden game we have given a lot of attention to our last match and how we can improve our game. "We know the team of Spain is very strong and we have to prepare right and be right on our game for this match."

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