Domenech cautious after French rout of Faroe Islands

SOCHAUX, France, Oct 12 (Reuters) Raymond Domenech played down France's 5-0 thumping of the Faroe Islands, saying yesterday widely expected victory brought little change to a strong Euro 2008 qualifying group.

Coach Domenech said the result did nothing to soothe the disapointment of the World Cup finalists' shock 1-0 Group B defeat to Scotland in Glasgow last week.

''We won tonight but it doesn't change anything regarding the loss against the Scots,'' Domenech told reporters after the match.

After four matches, the French are level on nine points with group leaders Scotland while Italy moved up to third in the standings thanks to a 3-1 success in Georgia.

Ukraine are fourth following their 2-0 victory over Walter Smith's Scotland outfit in Kiev, trailing the leading pair by only three points with a game in hand.

France will face a tricky trip to Lithuania when qualifying resumes in March before they host Georgia and Ukraine in June.

''Everybody is walking his own path,'' Domenech said. ''We will check the balance after the last match. This win gives us nothing and it takes nothing from us.

''Both Italy and Ukraine have won tonight and it confirms that, like I said before, it's going to be tough to qualify,'' he said.

''I would have liked Italy to lose. It would have made things easier for us,'' he said.

Domenech drew some reasons to be cheerful as he saw young midfielder Jeremy Toulalan of Olympique Lyon and defender Julien Escude of FC Sevilla perform well on the international stage.

Toulalan was particularly impressive as a replacement for Chelsea's Claude Makelele, who picked up an ankle injury during a training session on Tuesday.

''They (Toulalan and Escude) have had a very interesting outing,'' Domenech said. ''They confirmed what we thought about them.

''Now, we are not going to change eveything and discard guys who took part in previous campaigns,'' he said. ''But the youngsters confirmed they are ready.'' REUTERS AY HS1409