Lloris: Ribery rescued France after my errors

11 Sep 2013 01:00:00

The Tottenham goalkeeper had a night to forget in Belarus but two goals from the Bayern Munich midfielder led Didier Deschamps' men to a 4-2 win

Hugo Lloris has thanked Franck Ribery for sparing his blushes in France's 4-2 World Cup qualifying win away to Belarus on Tuesday.

Belarus took the lead twice as a result of two blunders from the Tottenham goalkeeper after he failed to save Egor Filippenko's tame header from a corner before misjudging a speculative strike from Timofey Kalachev.

Ribery equalised on both occasions, much to the relief of his apologetic captain who believes that the Bayern Munich midfielder was the key factor in avoiding dropped points.

"It was a tough night and I am primarily responsible," Lloris told reporters. "It is one of the hazards of the game but the team has risen to the top.

"Franck put us back on track and he made the difference."

Samir Nasri and Paul Pogba eventually sealed the win for France but their hopes of automatic qualification for next summer's finals in Brazil are looking bleak.

The victory pulls Didier Deschamps' men level on points with Spain at the summit of Group I, but Vicente del Bosque's side have a game in hand and require just four points from two home fixtures against Belarus and Georgia in October to seal top spot.