France coach Raymond Domenech said that his team shouldn't be considered as the underdogs ahead of their quarter-final encounter against world champions Brazil on Saturday. "We are neither outsiders nor favorites, we just have a game with Brazil on Saturday evening," Domenech was quoted as saying by BBC Sport on Friday. "Brazil have been considered as favorites for the past 40 years, while people have been writing us off as underdogs for the past 90 years," he added. France had a slow start in the tournament after two draws and a hard-fought win over Togo, but Domenech said that there performance in the second-round win against Spain is giving them a positive push before the Brazil clash. "We are looking forward with confidence and everyone is delighted we are in the final eight," Domenech said. However the French boss insisted that reaching the quarter-finals isn't the best his team wanted out of this world cup. "I'm surprised to hear people say that if we lose to Brazil, France has had a good world cup." "I think the opposite, it'd mean that we had lost and that would be unsuccessful campaign, we've only one objection, the final on July ninth," Domenech added. The French tactician, who has been under heavy criticism since he took over the team two years ago, said that his work with the team is finally paying off. "People criticize us in games, but football is different to theatre, when the audience only sees the performance and not the rehearsals." "We all have a great objective of what has to be done and our mission is to ensure that the team has everything it needs and that no external mistakes can be made round any problems," Domenech considered. Domenech is expected to name an unchanged side against Brazil as skipper Zinedine Zidane should be back in the squad after he sat out Thursday's training with a sore foot.
