France needs a victory against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday to kickstart its European Championship qualifying campaign after the beleaguered team's World Cup hangover continued with a surprise home defeat to Belarus in its Group D opener.
The French slipped to a demoralizing 1-0 loss at the Stade de France in Laurent Blanc's first competitive match in charge, further denting confidence in a squad that was already at a low ebb following its dismal showing in South Africa this summer.
A chronic lack of confidence in front of goal is not helping the cause of a team that has won just one of its last nine games - and that was a scrappy 2-1 win over Costa Rica in a World Cup warmup.
"We're not scoring many at the moment," said Blanc, who is yet to taste success as France coach since taking over from Raymond Domenech. "You can't invent scoring goals in the French team and it only underlines the difficulties we are having."
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema should return from an ankle injury that forced him out of the Belarus match but Blanc is still short up front. Lorient's Kevin Gameiro and new Lyon signing Jimmy Briand - who have five caps between them - are the only fully fit forwards at the manager's disposal. Guillaume Hoarau, Loic Remy and Louis Saha have all been ruled out through injury.
The French are desperate to get back to winning ways to help banish the memory of a World Cup debacle. The team went out at the group stage after failing to win a match and the squad went on strike during a training session.
With talismanic striker Thierry Henry retired and key players Patrice Evra, Franck Ribery and Nicolas Anelka all suspended for their part in the strike, Blanc's squad is short of experience.
"I want to put an end to this negative spiral of defeats and rebuild on a solid foundation," said Florent Malouda, who captained France against Belarus. "There is a lot of expectation at international level and we need to do more."
Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Luxembourg 3-0 on Friday to take early command of the group.
While France's post-World Cup misery continued, two other countries who failed in South Africa - England and Italy - began the rebuilding process with wins in their first Euro 2012 qualifiers.
England took a giant step forward by beating Bulgaria 4-0 at Wembley on Friday and will look to back that result up when it visits Switzerland, which has yet to start its qualifying campaign.
Manager Fabio Capello, who was criticized in the British media during and after the World Cup for his tactics and team selection, said his players are in much better condition now.
"The moment is different. The players were fresh and were ... sharp (against Bulgaria). That is so important in modern football," Capello said.
Capello is likely to replace Tottenham center back Michael Dawson, who sustained a knee injury against Bulgaria, with Gary Cahill and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is set to travel with the squad despite reports about his private life being splashed across British tabloids on Sunday.
Italy, embarrassed at the World Cup when it finished bottom of a group that included New Zealand, gained a morale-boosting 2-1 win at Estonia on Friday and should easily see off the Faeroe Islands in Florence in its second Group C qualifier.
Cesare Prandelli's first home match in charge will be in the city where he coached Fiorentina, before he took the Italy job in the summer.
After a comfortable 5-0 victory over San Marino on Friday, World Cup finalist the Netherlands has center back John Heitinga available after suspension for the home Group E match against Finland but is still without injured forwards Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben.
Veteran striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who celebrated his first international appearance since Euro 2008 with a last-minute goal against San Marino, can move equal third with Faas Wilkes on the list of all-time Netherlands scorers with a goal against Finland.
Finland will be looking to avoid starting its Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with back-to-back defeats after losing 2-0 to Moldova.
Elsewhere, Portugal visits Norway in Group H, three days after drawing 4-4 at home to Cyprus, while Germany hosts Azerbaijan in Group A.
