Draw forces French back to basics at World Cup

RIBEIRAO PRETO, Brazil (AP) France's misfiring performance against Ecuador took some gloss off what had been a strong start from a team being touted as one of the outsiders to win the World Cup.

Although Wednesday's 0-0 draw may have worked in France's favor in terms of pressure - by calming down the rising expectation level after emphatic wins against Honduras and Switzerland - the players need to be more clinical in front of goal against Nigeria in their Round-of-16 match.

Striker Olivier Giroud says ''we were a bit hit-and-miss but we know what we can do.''

France was much more miss than hit, failing to score from 20 shots - 13 of them on target - with Giroud himself missing a late close-range header when totally unmarked.