Patrick Vieira says the 3-2 defeat by Holland will give France an extra edge.

They will also now get the advantage of staying at their favoured Belgian base.

The Arsenal midfield player said: 'That was only the second time we have lost since before the World Cup win two years ago. The other time was against Russia. That hurt and this hurt.

'We made a lot of changes but there was no way we wanted to lose. Not at all. The players who went out there were determined to win and we were ahead twice. There was no excuse about any lack of cohesion or anything. We play together in training all the time. No, it hurts.

'It is not a feeling that I want to have after we play Spain on Sunday.

'The defeat against Holland will give us an extra edge. We won't want to experience that again.'

Holland's Phillip Cocu was as happy as Vieira was upset: 'It may not have been what people would say is their strongest team, but it was still a very strong one. And it was very clear they wanted to win. We are getting better and we are getting stronger.'