Relieved coach Raymond Domenech was pleased with his players efforts after watching his team come from two goals down to defeat Costa Rica on Wednesday.

France were 2-0 down at the break before goals from Nicolas Anelka, Djibril Cisse and Thierry Henry gave them victory.

“We could have died if we had not reacted after the break,” Domenech said afetrwards.

“We refused to let it go and we managed to bounce back. We were dealing with a disastrous situation and we turned it into an euphoric victory.

“We hardly played during the first. We only looked at them playing,” added Domenech.

“But we got a lot out of this game. The changes I made during the second half paid off. More than the victory itself, it was the will of the guys I want to remind you of.

“We overcame a terrible start. We proved that we really wanted to win this one. We’d better forget about the first half.

“I also want to thank the public here. They were behind us the whole time and they were a great help in the dying minutes. It’s outstanding, it was wonderful,” he said.

The match was played in memory of the 152 people from Martinique who died in a Venezuelan plane crash in August.

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