Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has expressed his belief that England must avoid defeat against France in their Euro 2012 opener if they want to qualify from their group.
England also share the group with Sweden and joint hosts Ukraine, the latter of which Wenger believes will pull of a shock by beating either Roy Hodgson's men or France.
"The opening game is England v France and there is no Rooney. You would say that is a game that you can not afford to lose. Why? Not because you cannot catch up, but [because] the pressure inside the country becomes tremendous straight away," Wenger told Arsenal's official website.
"That game could dictate the whole group. If it's a 0-0 draw, the group is all open, but if someone loses they have a very good chance of going out because Ukraine will beat one of the two, you would say, and Sweden are a hard team to beat.
"They are always well-organised tactically and they have [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic coming back, who can make a difference. They are traditionally a difficult opponent for England. It's a difficult group overall."
France are widely fancied to reach the latter stages of the tournament despite a disastrous 2010 World Cup in which they finished bottom of their group, picking up just one point.
Barney Corkhill
