Anelka: France must not defend 1-0 lead

By JEROME PUGMIRE

AP Sports Writer

updated 2:36 p.m. ET Nov. 15, 2009

PARIS - Striker Nicolas Anelka says France should not cautiously defend its 1-0 lead and must attack Ireland in the return leg of their World Cup playoff.

Anelka's deflected second-half strike settled a tight match in France's favor in Dublin on Saturday, but France has little room for error at Stade de France on Wednesday.

France struggled when it tried just to defend in the first half against Ireland and the Chelsea striker says the French are only effective when they play positively rather than adapting to their opponent's style.

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"We will play to win on Wednesday because that's the only way we can play freely, and we also want to give the fans something good at Stade de France," Anelka said Sunday on a video posted on the French football federation's Web site. "We hope they come and support us, we were positively surprised that a lot of French fans came to support us (in Dublin)."

France is hoping to play in its fourth consecutive World Cup, Ireland qualified in 2002 but missed out in 2006.

"Of course it's good to score away from home, it's a playoff so it's very important," Anelka said. "It's satisfying because we wanted to come here and show that we could get a good result. (But) we shouldn't get carried away, anything can happen."

France played poorly as Ireland started strongly at Croke Park, leading to some stern words at halftime among the French players.

"We couldn't get going and develop our game. We talked among ourselves and told each other what we had to do," Anelka said. "We didn't play very well in the first half, you have to tell the truth."

Anelka is enjoying the best form of his career for club and country. He was the Premier League's top scorer last season and has formed one of the most feared strike pairings in Europe alongside Ivory Coast forward Didier Drogba at Chelsea.

But the 30-year-old Anelka has never played in a World Cup before, after being overlooked by Aime Jacquet when France won in 1998, by Roger Lemerre in 2002 and by current coach Raymond Domenech in 2006.

He has played 62 internationals, much less than Thierry Henry's 116, despite being only 18 months younger than the Barcelona striker.

Anelka seems certain to be in Domenech's plans this time if France qualifies, and he thinks the team is slowly gelling after a fraught qualifying campaign, which saw it finish behind Serbia after dropping points against Romania, Serbia and Austria.

"It's a very good result for France. It was a hard match for us and we managed to come back and win despite everything," Anelka said. "It's the narrowest of margins, but it's still a win and they don't often lose at home."