- Title: France and Bulgaria prepare for their World Cup qualifier
- Date: 6th October 2016
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) FRANCE CAPTAIN, HUGO LLORIS, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE LLORIS LISTENING TO QUESTION SIGN FOR QUALIFYING STAGES IN THE 2018 WORLD CUP (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRANCE CAPTAIN, HUGO LLORIS, SAYING: "After a successful Euros and even if we failed at the last hurdle it is important to get back to work and not to fall asleep. A World Cup is something important and to have started with a draw wasn't the best way to start this qualifying phase even though we did a great match, only the goals were missing. But tomorrow we will need to rack in the points so as not to find ourselves in a difficult position." REPORTERS AT WORK FRANCE COACH, DIDIER DESCHAMPS, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRANCE COACH, DIDIER DESCHAMPS, SAYING: "We need to get the points we have at hand before we think of Monday's game (against Netherlands), take those three points tomorrow because we're at home and seeing the group we're in we'll need to accumulate lots of points in order to qualify, the path is long, we still have nine games and it's now only the second. Of course we're disappointed to have not taken the three points on this first game but had we won, we would still feel we'd have to win tomorrow." FRANCE TEAM GETTING READY FOR TRAINING ON PITCH FRANCE MIDFIELDER PAUL POGBA GETTING READY FRANCE TEAM ON PITCH FORWARD ANTOINE GRIEZMANN VARIOUS OF TEAM TRAINING DESCHAMPS ON PITCH FOOTBALLS ON PITCH TEAM TRAINING FORWARD KEVIN GAMEIRO TRAINING FRANCE GOALKEEPER AND CAPTAIN LLORIS TRAINING BULGARIA NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY BULGARIA MIDFIELDER AND TEAM CAPTAIN SVETOSLAV DYAKOV (LEFT) AND BULGARIA COACH PETAR HUBCHEV (RIGHT) DURING NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) BULGARIA COACH, PETAR HUBCHEV, SAYING: "I have to say that I think that its mostly the French media which is talking about 1993 and I have to say that it never crossed my mind - and I think it's the same for our French counterparts - we are very seriously preparing for this game and France hasn't forgotten their draw against Belarus and so for them too it is a very important game." BULGARIA TEAM PREPARING FOR TRAINING PLAYERS WARMING UP BULGARIA GOALKEEPER VLADISLAV STOYANOV BULGARIA MIDFIELDER AND TEAM CAPTAIN SVETOSLAV DYAKOV VARIOUS OF TEAM TRAINING BULGARIA COACH PETAR HUBCHEV WATCHING VARIOUS OF BULGARIA TRAINING AT STADE DE FRANCE
- Embargoed: 21st October 2016 21:24
- Keywords: France Didier Deschamps Bulgaria World Cup
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00152VDDFJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:France will be looking to take all three points in Friday's (October 7) World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria at the Stade de France.
The Euro 2016 finalists are hoping to improve after being held to a goalless draw by Belarus in their opening qualifying match.
"After a successful Euros and even if we failed at the last hurdle it is important to get back to work and not to fall asleep. A World Cup is something important and to have started with a draw wasn't the best way to start this qualifying phase even though we did a great match, only the goals were missing. But tomorrow we will need to rack in the points so as not to find ourselves in a difficult position," said France goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris at a news conference in Paris on Thursday (October 6).
France will play Netherlands on Monday (October 10) but coach Didier Deschamps said his team need to win against Bulgaria before thinking of their Dutch opponents.
"We need to get the points we have at hand before we think of Monday's game, take those three points tomorrow because we're at home and seen the group we're in we'll need to accumulate lots of points in order to qualify," said Deschamps.
"The path is long, we still have nine games and it's now only the second. Of course we're disappointed to have not taken the three points on this first game but had we won, we would still feel we'd have to win tomorrow," Deschamps added.
Twenty-three years ago, Bulgaria beat France 1-2, preventing them from participating in the 1994 World Cup. But Bulgarian coach Peter Hubchev said this fixture belonged to the past and his team are preparing for Friday's important match.
"I have to say that I think that its mostly the French media which is talking about 1993 and I have to say that it never crossed my mind - and I think it's the same for our French counterparts - we are very seriously preparing for this game and France hasn't forgotten their draw against Belarus and so for them too it is a very important game," said Hubchev.
Bulgaria top the Group A standings with three points after opening their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-3 win over Luxembourg. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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