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Cologne: For France, relief will prompt hope. An evening of palpable tension and, for too long, familiar frustrations ultimately saw Les Bleus scramble from their group and into the knockout stages. The champion of 1998 has recorded its first win since it hosted the final at the Stade de France and, by the end on Friday night, it was even mustering some of the swagger which had typified that glorious occasion.

Yet if Raymond Domenech departed this arena elated at his side's reprieve, that joy may be tempered by realism in the days to come. This was a comfortable victory over spirited but limited opponent which had somehow clung to parity until a little short of the hour mark.

The expectation will be that victory generates momentum to make France's great players look like their former selves. The suspicion lingers that this has merely papered over deeper cracks, which Spain, so impressive to date, may well expose in Hanover on Tuesday.

Above all, profligacy still undermines France's impact. It should have run up a cricket score here, so porous was the Africans' defence, but the early goal did not come and each desperate Togo block or spurned opportunity chipped away at France's self-conviction. It took Patrick Vieira, a towering presence on his 30th birthday in the muddled midfield scrap, to force his side ahead with his fifth goal in 90 appearances.

Spain's centre-halfs will not prove as generous as their Togo counterparts, who parted as early as the fourth minute to offer David Trezeguet the first of a flurry of chances the Juventus striker could not take.

Domenech booed

Those supporters bearing Tricolors had booed Domenech's name as it was announced over the Tannoy before kick-off, a reminder of the pressure under which his side is currently playing. This, after all, was France without Zinédine Zidane. The playmaker sat out his own birthday, the 34th, suspended on the sidelines and, although qualification has prolonged his career, it will be intriguing to see whether the coach, with whom he endures such a fractious relationship, breaks up last night's midfield quartet to recall his maestro on Tuesday.

Trezeguet could have marked his first start of this tournament with a hat-trick but ended with nothing, his scuffed attempt into the excellent Kossi Agassa's arms midway through the first period the miss of a player shorn of confidence. His outlook could hardly have been helped by the cancelling of a perfectly good goal just after the quarter-hour, the linesman flagging for offside as Ribéry squared his pass and Trezeguet tapped in.

Dreadful closes

The mistake did not have the same demoralising effect as previous refereeing blunders in the games against South Korea and Switzerland, though there was plenty of angst to suffer yet. Ribéry, for all his roving menace, was guilty of two dreadful misses when set up by Malouda before he made amends. Driving through the centre, the Marseille midfielder slipped a neat pass inside for Vieira to spin and arc a fine shot into the far corner. Some six minutes later, Willy Sagnol's centre was flicked on by the French captain for Thierry Henry, edging away from Massamasso Tchangai, to slide in his 35th international goal.

Togo was breached but not bowed. This was perhaps Togo's most admirable performance, its players relishing the occasion with a long-running pay dispute behind them.

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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