Both coaches blame pitch for goalless draw

STUTTGART, June 13: Both coaches blamed the condition of the pitch at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion for the poor quality of the goalless draw between France and Switzerland in their dreary Group G encounter today.

On an afternoon of incessant sunshine and humid heat, the contest between the 1998 World Cup winners and their neighbours and rivals produced only seven accurate shots and, thanks to a pernickety referee, eight yellow cards.

The result, in front of a sell-out capacity crowd of 52,000, was greeted like a win by the Swiss fans in front of whom the Swiss team joined hands and bowed while the French trudged away.

''To sprinkle the pitch six hours before the game and then not to do it again, before the kick-off, is not very useful,'' said the French coach Raymond Domenech. ''It meant the ball was not rolling properly, it was difficult for the players.'' His Swiss counterpart Koebi Kuhn was equally critical of the condition of the ground and also took a swipe at the Russian referee Valentin Ivanov, whose fussy approach led to a series of frustrating interruptions.

''The pitch was dull, it meant that the ball did not move, it did not roll and that is why it was this kind of game,'' he said.

''When you see things happen to Thierry Henry, with the ball, like we did today, you can see it was not a good pitch at all for these kind of players.'' The Swiss, however, had reason to be happy as it was their first clean sheet in 23 World Cup games, ending the worst record of any team in the finals.

''I was very happy with my defence,'' said Kuhn. ''They fought well. But we had five yellow cards, yes, and I don't understand why. I did not know what was happening or why the referee made some of those decisions.'' France, without a goal now in four World Cup games since they beat Brazil 3-0 in Paris in the 1998 final, may now be hoping for a downpour in Leipzig before they meet South Korea on Sunday.

REUTERS

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