France step up Euro preparations against Serbia

PARIS (AFP) –

French defender Mathieu Debuchy celebrates after scoring a goal during the football friendly against Iceland on May 27. France play host to Serbia in Reims on Thursday in their second pre-Euro 2012 warm-up match.

France play host to Serbia in Reims on Thursday in their second pre-Euro 2012 warm-up match with coach Laurent Blanc looking for an improvement from their showing against Iceland last weekend.

Les Bleus toiled to beat the 131st-ranked Icelanders 3-2 on Sunday, with defensive frailties exposed as they fell 2-0 behind before coming back to win the game thanks to goals from Mathieu Debuchy, substitute Franck Ribery and central defender Adil Rami.

Blanc had always insisted that the first friendly ahead of the European Championship would be about rebuilding fitness and rediscovering rhythm after a short break at the end of the season.

But there will be fewer excuses for a poor performance against Serbia — and in their final friendly game, against Estonia in Le Mans on June 5 — as Les Bleus step up preparations for their opening Euro 2012 match against England in Donetsk, Ukraine on June 11.

Blanc would love his men to maintain the winning habit and extend an unbeaten run that already stretches back over 19 games.

“Top-level sport is always about winning, and if we can do so it will boost confidence both individually and collectively,” he said.

“I am also hoping that the players look better physically than they did in the first match (against Iceland).

“We are putting everything in place little by little. The plan over these three games was for us to improve in each one so I hope we will see that against Serbia.”

This will be France’s first match since Blanc announced his final 23-man squad for the Euros, with Lyon playmaker Yoann Gourcuff and Montpellier defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa the two men axed from his provisional squad.

Blanc has admitted that “many changes will be made from the team that started against Iceland,” so goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and midfielder Yann M’Vila should both feature this time, and striker Olivier Giroud is a contender to start after coming off the bench to set up two goals against Iceland.

Ribery will also hope to feature in the starting line-up.

Having themselves failed to qualify for the European Championship, Serbia are building towards the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, when they will come up against the likes of Croatia, Belgium, Scotland and Wales.

Former Lazio and Sampdoria defender Sinisa Mihajlovic was appointed coach on a one-year deal last week and oversaw a 2-0 defeat to Spain in Austria in his first match in charge.

His squad features seven players from Belgrade giants Partizan and Red Star, and a host of names plying their trade in Europe’s major championships.

Two of the squad are based in France’s Ligue 1 — centre-half Milan Bisevac of Paris Saint-Germain and full-back Pavle Ninkov of Toulouse.

However, there will be no Adem Ljajic after the Fiorentina player was booted out of the squad for refusing to sing the national anthem prior to the Spain game.

“They were outplayed by Spain, but they have talented players,” said Blanc of the Serbian side.

“It will be a difficult game. They are very defensive but like to break forward quickly.

“But for us, the most important thing is how we play.”

There should be a sell-out crowd of around 21,000 at the Stade Auguste-Delaune, home of Stade de Reims, one of France’s most famous clubs who were twice European Cup finalists in the 1950s and who recently won promotion to return to the top flight for the first time in 33 years.