Coupet impressed by Lloris

Gregory Coupet has hailed his successor as France number one, Hugo Lloris, a “phenomenon” after the Lyon goalkeeper’s clean sheet against the Republic of Ireland put Les Bleus on the brink of the World Cup finals.

Nicolas Anelka’s deflected second-half shot secured the French a 1-0 win in a closely-fought first leg in Dublin on Saturday night to leave Raymond Domenech’s side firm favourites to advance to South Africa.