Euro 2012 Qualifying: Can things get any worse?

Euro 2012 / Richard Aikman / 06 September 2010 / Leave a Comment

Laurent Blanc has much to ponder

"There will probably never be a better time for Bosnia [2.9] to win the match, to face France [2.76]."

After Friday's dismal showing, Laurent Blanc is in danger of making it three defeats out of three as France embark on a tough trip to Bosnia. Meanwhile, Portugal's campaign is already on the brink of implosion. Richard Aikman reports.

France may have a began a new regime but, after reverting to old habits on Friday, les Bleus will have their work cut out to avoid further misery against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday night.

Laurent Blanc's men took to Stade de France full of optimism ahead of their opening UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group D match against Belarus, but it was the same old story as the hosts slumped to their fourth defeat in a row following Syarhey Kislyak's 85th-minute winner.

The 2000 European champions didn't play particularly poorly against Belarus but were punished for their failure to convert possession into goals as the visitors scored from one of only two clear-cut chances in the entire game, Kislyak settling the contest after good approach play from Vyacheslav and Alexander Hleb. It might have been a different story had the promising Loïc Rémy not headed Jeremy Menez's corner just wide, or had Florent Malouda not been denied by both Yury Zhevnov, who also thwarted Mathieu Valbuena, and the offside flag.

The concern for Les Bleus now is whether or not Blanc can rebuild fragile French confidence. For his first match in charge, a 2-1 friendly defeat to Norway, the former Bordeaux coach sent out a firm message by dropping every player involved in the World Cup revolt but now he has his work cut out to restore belief in players who may not have taken kindly to his strong arm tactics. On top of that, Blanc must make do without Rémy, who played well on Friday, as well as fellow strikers Guillaume Hoarau and Louis Saha, who all sustained injuries, meaning a call-up for Lyon forward Jimmy Briand.

Even with Karim Benzema back from an ankle injury, there will probably never be a better time for Bosnia, who are [2.9] to win the match, to face France [2.76], after their 3-0 defeat of Luxembourg last week. First-half strikes from Senijad Ibričić, Miralem Pjanić and Edin Džeko put paid to Luxembourg, with Lyon playmaker Pjanić in fine form. The concern for Bosnia is that before Friday's win, they hadn't kept a clean sheet for seven matches. The draw [3.35], over 2.5 goals [2.4] and laying France [2.8] make for appealing bets.

Following their surprise 4-4 draw with Cyprus, Portugal's trip to early pacesetters Norway also takes on added importance for Carlos Queiroz's charges, who remain [1.6] favourites to win the group H despite their setback.

Though Portugal were without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo for the Guimaraes goalfest, it wasn't as though they struggled in the final third. Sloppy defending is obviously the main concern after the hosts conceded as many goals against the European minnows as they had in their previous 19 games.

The Selecção is suffering from the absence of experience, with midfielders Deco, Simão Sabrosa and defender Paulo Ferreira having recently retired from the international scene, while the loss of left-back Fabio Coentrao is a further blow.

The visitors' cause has hardly been helped by Queiroz's six-month suspension for disrupting a drugs test. Assistant Agostinho Oliveira has stepped into the breach to little affect so far and should he fall short again in Oslo, the Portuguese Football Federation may consider discharging the pair of their duties before their European qualification campaign implodes.

With Portugal in disarray Norway, who are [3.35] to overcome the [2.38]-priced visitors will fancy their chances of at least getting a draw [3.4]. On Friday Egil Olsen's came from behind to overcome Cyprus 2-1 thanks to strikes from Brede Hangelaand and Mohammed Abdellaoue and will be high in confidence having won seven of their last eight matches. As they are in a group including Denmark, who are [2.64] to win group H, Norway are themselves nicely priced to build on their momentum and qualify for Euro 2012 as section winners at [4.1].