Santini era begins with a draw

Tunisia 1-1 France
France's FIFA World Cup hangover continued with a lacklustre away draw against Tunisia tonight.

Promising start
Yet new France coach Jacques Santini had a promising start to his career in charge of Les Bleus when Mikaël Silvestre put his side ahead in the 18th minute from Zinedine Zidane's corner.

Deserved equaliser
However, the hosts, who had dominated the opening exchanges, were deservedly level seven minutes before the break when Radhi Jamali nodded Mourad Milki's cross past a helpless Grégory Coupet to the delight of the large home crowd.

Santini looks for lift
Things did not improve for France in the second half as Tunisia continued to hold the upper hand. Santini will now have to lift his players for the defence of their European crown, which begins with their first EURO 2004™ qualifier against Cyprus on 7 September.

'Deserved draw'
The former Olympique Lyonnais coach, who took over from Roger Lemerre following France's early World Cup exit, said: "Tunisia deserved this draw. Between tonight and our game against Cyprus we have two-and-a-half weeks and we will use them to think about what happened tonight.

'Lost confidence'
"I do not think the players were at their best tonight," Santini added. "They were hurt after the World Cup and that is why there was a little bit of apprehension. The team has lost its confidence. We will have to improve a few things in the next few days but this is not a matter of individuals."