SoccerNews.com

Under-pressure France coach Raymond Domenech insisted Friday that if he took his growing army of critics seriously, he would have killed himself by now.

The controversial coach could find himself out of work by Wednesday night if France, the 1998 world champions, fail to beat Ireland in a two-legged play-off and miss out on the 2010 World Cup finals.

Runners-up just three years ago, France missed out on automatic qualification to Serbia, a failure which only added fuel to the fire.

“People can say what they want, when they want. I stopped listening to them a long time ago, otherwise I would have committed suicide,” said Domenech on Friday, the eve of their first leg tie with the Irish at Croke Park.

The French coach was in tetchy mood as he faced the media after arriving in heavy rain in Dublin.

As well as questions over his relationship with his players, he has heard pleas from Lyon coach Claude Puel for star midfielder Jeremy Toulalan to be rested.

“I have other worries. We have 24 players who must prepare the best. The French team is more important than the preoccupations of other people,” said the coach who wouldn’t discuss the importance of grabbing an away goal.

“The important thing is to qualify.”

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