Intro:

Laurent Blanc insists that France still have everything to prove heading into their European Championship opener against England on Monday (June 11).

Script:

Brushing aside talk of his team's 21-match unbeaten run, coach Laurent Blanc insisted on Sunday (June 10) that France still have everything to prove heading into their European Championship opener against England on Monday.

Having long fallen from the heights of 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winners, France are now viewed by many as a good outside bet to win Euro 2012.

Perhaps wary of past failures, Laurent Blanc ignored such talk on Sunday.

SOUNDBITE (French): Laurent Blanc, French coach:
"We went through a rough patch, let's face it. Over the past two years, we have been building up the team progressively. We qualified in this Euro competition with difficulties, but I believe we deserve to be here. We need to be confident for this Euro competition, although some teams are better equipped than we are to win this cup. But if we manage to come out of the group stage, then anything is possible in this European Championship."

Blanc was boosted by the recovery from injury of defensive midfielders Yann M'Vila and Blaise Matuidi.

The other Group D game sees co-hosts Ukraine take on Sweden.