France coach Jacques Santini says he will leave nothing to chance in preparation for his side's defence of their European title in Portugal next year.
Saturday's comfortable 3-0 win over Israel completed a flawless qualifying campaign, but Santini said the work was only just beginning -- starting with a thorough check of the teams forced to try and qualify via the playoffs.
"The whole technical staff will be mobilized into watching these games and as soon as the draw will be made, we'll have a look at their schedule," Santini told reporters on Sunday.
Among the 10 teams in Monday's playoff draw in Frankfurt are several who could pose a threat to France's crown, namely Spain, The Netherlands, Turkey and Russia.
Another threat next year will come from traditional foes Germany, who followed their run to the World Cup final by qualifying automatically for Portugal with a 3-0 victory over Iceland on Saturday.
Santini will be able to take a closer look at them on November 15 when Les Bleus take on Germany in a high-profile friendly in Gelsenkirchen.
"Our players will have the opportunity to confirm what they did before or even improve their level," he said.
"We'll see if we can be as efficient as we've been throughout the qualifying campaign.
The French are well aware of their debacle at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan when, as world champions, they failed to progress past the opening group phase after losing 1-0 to Senegal.
"When I arrived 15 months ago, I analysed everything," Santini said. "And I will keep following this track. If a player wants to talk to me at four o'clock in the morning, I'll be there and listen to him.
The key to another great team, the coach believes, is how the new emerging players can blend in with established stars like Thierry Henry.
"Thierry Henry has an essential role to play. He'll be the link between the new and the old generation," the coach said.
"He'll be there to tell some players they will be the link between Euro 2004 and the qualifiers to the 2006 World Cup starting in September 2004."