France crashed to a 2-0 defeat to Sweden on Tuesday night, meaning they finish as runners-up in Euro 2012 Group D.
Goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sebastian Larsson sealed a pride-restoring victory for the Scandinavian side, and means that England leapfrog Les Bleus into first place in the pool.
Laurent Blanc was not happy with his side’s showing, and feels his men were second best.
“Sweden beat an average France team. They were better in all departments. If we analyse the game I think we struggled throughout,” Blanc told local reporters, translated to English by Sky Sports.
France midfielder Yann M’Vila has also admitted that the showing was not good enough, and knows that his side will have to improve in the quarter-finals against Spain.
“We came upon a team that was far stronger than us,” M’Vila stated.
“We are going to play Spain, the world and defending champions.
“It is up to us to show another side to our game and to prove that we can go far in this competition.”
By Gareth McKnight
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