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On air: How do you solve a problem like Les Bleus?

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Ben James Ben James | 06:52 UK time, Friday, 18 June 2010

PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty ImagesFrance won the World Cup 12 years ago and they were maybe a from winning it last time too.

But last night against Mexico they were a shadow of their former selves.

So what has gone wrong with Les Bleus? Were the last night? Or are we talking more prosaic football-related reasons?

Even admits it wasn't just his own team's brilliance that won the game:

They were the team that made our stomachs drop when we found out that they were in our group, and were also finalists in the last World Cup. Sure, they crashed out of the Euro 2008 in embarrassing fashion, and qualified for this World Cup with a handball, but "surely they are still better than Mexico" said the many people that thought we wouldn't stand a chance in this group. Those same people are eating their words now that Mexico is in a great position to qualify for the next round, and France is not.'

France's Patrice Evra's verdictÌýon his own country, ,Ìýis this - they've become

"a small football nation and it hurts.ÌýWhen you go out of the Euro in the first round, and then you are about to go out again, you really don't want to think about football anymore."

Are they really now a small football nation? Or a big one vastly underachieving? What has gone wrong for Les Bleus and how do you think they can put it right?

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