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Wednesday 13 November 2013

Ribery calls for fearless France display against Ukraine


France international Franck Ribery

Ribery calls for fearless France display against Ukraine

France international Franck Ribery
The 30-year-old wants his side not to be hesitant during their World Cup play-off in Kiev on Friday, while also praising the impact Pep Guardiola has had on his form at Bayern

Franck Ribery has called for his France team-mates to approach the World Cup play-off against Ukraine without any fear.

Both the French and Ukrainian sides finished second in Group I and Group H respectively, with the first leg of their subsequent play-off taking place in Kiev on Friday.

And, while Ribery admits there is plenty of pressure surrounding the play-off, the Bayern Munich man wants France to go into the game with confidence.

"These games are special. It's surrounded by a difficult context. Now, we need to play with no pressure. We should not be scared," he told reporters.

Ukraine have not conceded in their last seven matches and have not lost since October 2012.

Ribery consequently insists that Ukraine must be respected, adding: "It's going to be two difficult games. We should not take things easy against this team or say to ourselves we are already in Brazil.

"They are very strong defensively. They didn't concede many goals. They play well in counterattack. We need to be ready and get a good result there. Then, we will have to manage the game at home well."

Ribery, who has nine goals for Bayern this season in all competitions, has also paid tribute to his club manager Pep Guardiola for his fine form.

The 30-year-old has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or award and hailed the impact Guardiola has made since arriving at the Allianz Arena.

"My confidence comes from the appointment of Guardiola, that helped me a lot," he added. "He is a coach who says to me every day that I have to try my luck more and shoot more on goal.

"I tended to pass the ball at training two metres away from the goals and he said: 'You should have scored, you should have shot.' That's confidence.

"Since he joined the club, I have scored goals for Bayern and the French national team. Hopefully, it will continue." ------------------ goal.com

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