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World Cup qualifying: Toughest part still to come for resurgent France [Mon Sep 5th, 2005]
Lens (Reuters) - France's convincing 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands was a necessary step on the road to the 2006 World Cup finals, but the toughest part of the week is still to come with a trip to Dublin.
Inspired by a superb performance from striker Djibril Cisse, the French took three points to keep their hopes alive in the race for the qualification from Group Four.
With three matches to go, the French are level on 13 points with Switzerland and Ireland, while Israel, who grabbed a 1-1 draw in Basel, are a point behind in fourth.
"There is no disrespect to the Faroes from my part but it was a match we had to get out of the way," coach Raymond Domenech told a news conference on Sunday.
"From our point of view, the game against the Irish in Dublin is the most important one. We had to win here to be in the best possible position. That's all."
Domenech said that the team's third straight win had changed very little.
"Like I said before we still need to win all our matches to make sure we finish at the top of the group," he said.
The timetable is against the French as they face the Irish and Swiss away before their final match at home to Cyprus.
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Following their dip in form in the wake of a disappointing Euro 2004, France have regained some composure thanks to the returns of inspirational playmaker Zinedine Zidane and experienced campaigners Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram.
The French have scored six goals in their last two outings, one more than they had in the six first matches of their qualifying campaign.
They still, however, squandered goalscoring chances.
"We will have to be much more efficient against Ireland," said captain Zidane. "We won't have some many opportunities as they are not going to let us much room to play."
Domenech agreed.
"If we can put in the net half of the opportunities we will have there, I'll be more than happy," he said, adding that he had made some substitutions with Dublin in mind.
"I started to think about it during the interval. That's when I decided to make my changes."
Domenech took Zidane off before the hour and replaced him with Vikash Dhorasoo to give his key player some rest.
The playmaker had been suffering from a painful hip, but he looked in perfect shape during the training session on Sunday.
Defender Thuram is nursing a bruised thigh and Cisse has a sore ankle, but Domenech said it was still too soon to rule them out for the Wednesday tie.
"We will know more in a couple of days," he said.
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