Del Bosque: France will be tough opponents

Jun 20, 2012 7:52:00 AM

The Spain boss has praised Les Bleus for the progress they have made and believes that Laurent Blanc will have plenty of great players to call upon in the quarter-final clash

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque believes that France will pose a stern test for the reigning champions in their Euro 2012 quarter-final encounter.

La Roja booked their ticket for the knockout stages on Monday when they beat Croatia 1-0 to finish as Group C winners, while Les Bleus followed suit on Tuesday, as a 2-0 defeat against Sweden forced them to settle for the runners-up spot in Group D.

Del Bosque is wary of the quality at Laurent Blanc's disposal and revealed that he will need time to prepare for the clash before deciding on his ideal XI.

"We know that they are on a similar level to us and it will be a difficult game. France have made a lot of progress [since the 2010 World Cup]," Del Bosque stated to Onda Cero.

"They have made some important changes and have great players such as [Karim] Benzema, [Hatem] Ben Arfa, [Samir] Nasri, [Florent] Malouda and [Franck] Ribery.

"This is a really big game, and we have all been looking forward to it. We will have time to prepare for the match and think of the best line-up."

The match between Spain and France takes place in Donetsk on Saturday at 20:45CET.

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