Blanc keeps perspective after Belarus shock September 04, 2010
Laurent Blanc refused to press the panic button despite seeing France fall to a dispiriting 1-0 defeat at home to Belarus in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier.
With a number of key players unavailable, France struggled to prise open the Belarusian defence and were beaten by an 86th-minute goal from substitute Sergei Kislyak.
It was a bitterly disappointing result for Blanc, who was overseeing his first competitive match since taking over from Raymond Domenech after the World Cup, but he insisted he was not worried.
"No, I'd looked at the number of caps and the number of goals my players had," said Blanc, whose team travels to play Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday.
"We didn't have Karim Benzema (injured), our best goalscorer. We didn't have people who are used to scoring goals for France.
"We'll have to help them to digest this before we go to Bosnia, where a difficult match awaits us," added Blanc, whose side left the pitch to the familiar sound of jeers from the home fans.
The hosts largely controlled the game but there was a palpable lack of creativity in attacking areas that frustrated Blanc's hopes of banishing memories of the World Cup debacle with a rousing performance.
"We've created a sensation," said Belarus coach Bernd Stange.
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