Blanc insists France are not a major threat despite 21 games without loss

Head coach Blanc has often tried to play down where France currently stand on the footballing ladder, particularly after the unrest surrounding the squad at the 2010 World Cup.

But to make such an admission after a 21-game unbeaten run and on the eve of France’s first match, represented a surprise and Blanc does not believe his side are even favourites to qualify.

Blanc said: “The French team don’t have the same ambitions as Spain or Germany at the start of these European Championships.

“France, in terms of their results over the last few years, have not allowed us to retain our place in European or world football.

“People say I often bring this up, but I don’t do that because I like to. It’s the reality. People say we’re favourites in the group, but I don’t agree with that.

“We were in the fourth pot in the draw, and that means something. It’s an open group. France, England, Ukraine and Sweden can all legitimately believe they can get into the latter stages.

“We are at the same level as the other sides. We hope to get through and justify our status.”

Blanc added: “We’ve had some difficult times, and we’re not going to hide away from them.

“We’ve been building things little by little, slowly over the last two years, but we qualified – with some difficulty, of course – and we deserve to be here.

“We need to be confident going into these finals. There are some sides who are better than France, but if we can get out of the group stage anything can happen. But we’re no longer one of the top sides in European football, and I should remind you of that.”

Former Manchester United player Blanc expects England to play on the counter-attack and has warned his side to be wary of such tactics.

He said: “Essentially, the fact I played in England for two years means I know the English players’ mentality.

“I just saw Gary Neville a few minutes ago, now coaching with the national team. I know what to expect in terms of spirit and strength in the tackles. They’ll be like that tomorrow, maybe even more so.

“We’ve watched their last two friendly games [against Norway and Belgium]. We didn’t learn they were very committed – we knew that. But if they play in the same way they’ll drop back, have a bank of four with some quick players, and try and hit us on the break. We need to be wary of that, and make sure we’re not caught off guard. If there’s space in behind, they’ll counter-attack and Steven Gerrard is a great passer of the football.”

Blanc is aware England head coach Roy Hodgson has had little time to put his ideas into practice since succeeding Fabio Capello.

He said: “I’ve done this job for two years, and Mr Hodgson knows it a lot less than me for sure. But it’s difficult to put ideas across to your players.

“You don’t have a lot of time to work with them, and he’s had far less than me. He’s tried to put across how he wants his side to play.

“I think he’ll try and play in the same way tomorrow – he’s not bluffing – in the hope they understand what he wants from them, individually and collectively.

“There’ll be two very different footballing philosophies on show tomorrow.

“I hope the side that plays more football will win the game, but it’s not always the case that it happens in football.”

Les Bleus haven’t won a match in two major tournaments since 2006 and tonight they’ll be looking to Karim Benzema for some inspiration. The dynamic striker has come into his own in a breakthrough season at Real Madrid, where he scored 21 league goals, and he’s the player his nation is counting on ahead of the intriguing tussle with England.

“I don’t know if I’m in the form of my life. I’m only 24, I hope there will be other times,” said Benzema, who scored two in the recent 4-0 win over Estonia in a Euro 2012 warm-up match. “But I do feel really good. I’ve gained belief in myself, both with Real Madrid and with France.

Contradicting Blanc’s low expectations, Benzema added: “A successful Euros would be to go all the way and win it, but I think getting past the first round would be good.

“Being a football player is about pleasing people. I hope we do really well so that people start loving the France team.”