France put themselves firmly on course for next year’s European Championship finals with a 2-0 victory over Lithuania on Wednesday, just five weeks after a shock home defeat had almost derailed their campaign.
Thierry Henry netted his 42nd and 43rd goals late in the match to pass Michel Platini’s French scoring record as Les Bleus took full advantage of Scotland’s 2-0 loss in Georgia to move top of Group B.
Lying third in the group at the start of the match following a surprise 1-0 defeat to Scotland in Paris last month, France now lead Alex McLeish’s side by one point with Italy a further point adrift in third.
Scotland host Italy at Hampden Park in their final qualifier on November 17, four days before the Italians conclude their campaign at home to the Faroe Islands.
Les Bleus now need only a draw in Ukraine on November 21 to advance and could travel to Kiev already qualified if Italy beat Scotland.
”To me, it was obvious we were going to win after creating so many chances,” France coach Raymond Domenech told reporters.
”Now we’ll go to Ukraine for the win and I don’t care about Scotland or Italy.”
”It’s a great relief,” goalkeeper Mickael Landreau added.
”But it was the second leg of a three-stage race so we have to stay focused.”
However, Henry, who broke the deadlock in the 79th minute, said France were worried they would be unable to break Lithuania’s resistance as the contest reached the closing stages still scoreless.
With Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda hitting the woodwork in the opening 15 minutes, Les Bleus looked dominant but could also have fallen behind when Audrius Ksanavicius’s curling shot smashed Landreau’s right-hand post in the first half.
”At one time, we thought it was not our night but we kept pushing hard and we were eventually rewarded for it,” said Henry, who doubled the tally in the 80th to put the result beyond doubt.
”I had told myself that if I were to score, I would fully celebrate the record,” the Barcelona striker added.
”But now we still have to qualify. This is the goal we must not forget.” – Reuters