France coach Raymond Domenech has admitted the forthcoming match with South Korea had assumed critical importance for Les Bleus after they were held 0-0 by Switzerland in their World Cup Group G opener.

France go into the June 18 clash with the group leaders from Asia in Leipzig, trailing in joint second place with the Swiss after the stalemate in Stuttgart on Tuesday.

France's World Cup victory eight years ago seemed a long time ago as the remaining veterans of that campaign struggled in the heat at the Gottlieb Daimler stadium.

Domenech was aware another bad result against the Koreans could see a repeat of the ill-fated 2002 World Cup defence under Roger Lemerre when Les Bleus were eliminated without winning a match or scoring a goal.

Domenech said: "It (the Korea game) will be a tense match and whatever happens in the second game it will now all go down to the last game.

"We were putting our qualification hopes on a three-match campaign - now it's all riding on two matches."

France had a good shout for a penalty turned down against Switzerland and missed some chances with Thierry Henry particularly culpable.

"We must take take our chances and try and play with calmness," said Domenech who, before replacing Jacques Santini, had been France's Under-21 coach for more than a decade and groomed many of the stars that helped Les Bleus win France 98 and Euro 2000.

"But even a draw could be enough for us to through if we win our last game (with Togo). It (the Korea match) will be undoubtedly a tense match but that's the sort of match that forges great players and great teams."

Domenech hinted at a possible tactical change when he said the 4-2-3-1 system he used against the Swiss was not set in stone.

Henry looked out of sorts as a lone striker with Zinedine Zidane, Franck Ribery and Sylvain Wiltord struggling to give him the necessary support.

With fitness worries over David Trezeguet, Domenech might be tempted to bring in a strike partner for Henry with an obvious candidate Louis Saha, who pepped up the French attack in the closing stages as a substitute in Ribery's position.

Domenech admitted: "The system is there to be worked on and developed and changed according to the team you are playing against.

"We will prepare this match (with Korea) with calmness and we must remember it's not the system that's essential - it's always the players who decide the match."

In a further hint that changes could be in the offing, Domenech said: "We have 23 players at our disposal and all of them could be called upon at a given time.

"Everything will be decided in its own time and our objective remains to qualify for the next phase and advance and now we must look forward."