France coach Laurent Blanc played down expectations on his side ahead of Euro 2012, insisting that Les Bleus cannot hope to compete with the continent's leading nations.
Blanc took over as coach in the summer of last year in the wake of France's controversy-marred World Cup campaign in South Africa.
He has since restored a degree of confidence among fans in the national team, guiding them to Euro 2012 as winners of qualifying Group D following a 15-match unbeaten run.
However, the 45-year-old told sports daily L'Equipe on Friday that there is no point getting carried away with France's prospects of success in Poland and Ukraine.
"After what happened in June 2010, we said that we needed to rediscover a bit of humility. Let's not look too far ahead. We are not going to the Euros to do anything. Let's just wait and see what the draw brings," he said.
"Progress has not been as quick as we hoped. But we have come a long way, a very long way. We need to be more consistent. Certain nations can afford to do without three or four key players, not us."
"People need to try to analyse things a little more closely. They want us to put together a team of great players in 15 months and play at the same level as the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. That is impossible!"
"A quality team that plays good football is not something you can buy at the supermarket. There are still things we need to improve, but the objective for us was to qualify for the Euros, and we have done that."
Blanc's fear is that France will find themselves in the bottom pot of seeds when the draw for the finals is made in Kiev on December 2 - something that could happen if, for example, either Croatia or Portugal qualify via next month's playoffs.
In that case, France could theoretically be pitted in a group with Spain, Germany and the Portuguese, making progress beyong the group stage a big ask.
At Euro 2008 they found themselves in the so-called 'group of death' with the Dutch, Italy and Romania and as a consequence crashed out after the first round.
A World Cup winner and European Champion as a player, Blanc is therefore wise to talk his team down, and he also insisted that he will not sign a new contract if the team performs poorly at the finals.
Regardless of what happens next summer, Blanc has worked hard to rebuild the image of French football, but he says the player mutiny at the squad's training camp in Knysna during the South African World Cup is not something that can be forgotten.
"The scar will always be there," he said. "But we must learn to live with it. And getting results is the best way to improve things. Individual behaviour is important too. But the players are not going to become yes-men. That is not possible."
Source: AFP
