Poland put on a brave fight but it wasn't enough as they lost 74-66 to France in the opening Group D match in Alicante.

The Poles trailed 61-55 early in the fourth quarter and had a chance to steal the momentum, but failed to beat the 24-second shot clock and turned the ball over.

Ronny Turiaf scored a jumper the next trip down the court to give France an eight point lead at 63-55.

"It was very important for me to come up strong in the fourth quarter," Turiaf said afterwards."I had missed some shots earlier in the game and I was a bit down.

"Fortunately the coach put me down low and I was able to get a couple of baskets that strengthened our lead."

Polish veteran Adam Wojcik had a game-high 19 points in the loss and shot eight of 10 from the floor (80%).

"We did our job which was to remain in the game for as long as possible," said the 37-year-old

		Wojcik kept Poland close with 19 points

Wojcik."We missed wide open shots and France kept their noses in front."

Tony Parker led France in scoring with 16 points but had a tough day shooting the ball, going five of 16 from the field (31%).

He had nine points at the break and Boris Diaw chipped in with eight while Polish veteran Adam Wojcick was keeping his team in the game with 11.

Les Bleus' biggest lead of the half was 22-12 on a Parker jump shot.

But Poland then reeled off eight unanswered points, capped off by a Andrzej Pluta jumper, to cut the deficit to just two,
22-20.

Again, France threatened to build a big lead when they went up 33-26 on a Sanya Giffa three-pointer, but their opponents once again closed the gap trailing by just three, 33-30, at half time.

Wojcik's lay-up saw Poland jump in front 36-35 at the start of the third quarter but France soon regained the lead on Parker's three-point bomb.

Les Bleus then used a 6-0 surge at the end of the quarter to take a 60-53 advantage going into the final stanza.

France were 11 of 26 (42.3%) from three point-range, with seven different players connecting from long range. Poland were a poor four of 19 from (21%) outside the perimeter.

France

Ronny Turiaf: "We knew that Poland were a good team, perhaps the people here didn't but we definitely knew what we were up against. It was a tough game for us, it was a very interesting game for us, it was a learning experience. Poland are not here for nothing. They have 12 guys that play very hard for each other, that can shoot the ball very well and play tough on defense. When you have guys that play like that they are going to be successful."

Yakhouba Diawara: "We didn't have a good first half but we did some thinking and stepped up our defense in the third quarter. From then on we were able to attack their basket more comfortably."

Poland

Adam Wojcik: "We did our job which was to remain in the game for as long as possible. It was a pity that we missed wide open shots to allow France to keep their noses in front. It was a very tough game for us, France have very good players but I think we gave our best. Hopefully we can continue to play the same in our next games."

Coach Andreej Urlep: "I am very proud of players, I think they gave their all today and I would like to thank them. We didn't allow France to pull away until the fourth quarter, when they made the right decisions and we missed open shots."

France will be looking to stamp their authority on Group D when they take on Poland in Alicante on the first day of play.

Tony Parker, forced to miss last year's FIBA World Championship with a broken finger, is in Claude Bergeaud's team this year along with Boris Diaw but there are some notable absentees from 2006 with Mickael Gelabale, Mickael Pietrus and Johan Petro all left out.

However, les Bleus' play this summer in the build-up to the EuroBasket indicates by no means are they a weakened team.

		Koszarek faces a tough test going up against Parker

France lost just two games - against world champions Spain and defending European champions Greece - while clinching nine victories in the lead-up to this tournament.

Key Match-up: The 'Tony Parker of Poland', Lukasz Koszarek, will have to come up strong for his team if they are to have any chance of upsetting France. Koszarek is fast, athletic and a good shooter but lacks consistency and going up against the real Parker - the MVP of this year's NBA Finals - will be a most challenging task.

Statistics: France have struggled at the free-throw line and will be looking to polish that aspect of their game against Poland. Bergeaud's men converted only 11 of 21 (52%) attempts from the charity stripe in their 82-71 defeat against Spain, their last warm-up before the EuroBasket. Accuracy from three-point territory was also a problem for the 2005 European bronze medalists, who connected on just seven of 24 (29%) attempts from beyond the arc against the World Champions. Meanwhile, Poland look overmatched entering the EuroBasket with just two wins in their build-up. Keeping their turnovers down to a minimum and doing all the little things like hitting free-throws and limiting second chance points for France will be crucial.

X-factor: Parker will be the No 1 enemy for Poland. Having missed last year's competition in Japan through injury, he'll be desperate to lead his team into the Olympics as European champions. Their opponents have nothing to lose as they return to the EuroBasket for the first time since 1997. Andrej Urlep's young team have as their main priority to gain experience in order to be more competitive by the time they host the tournament in 2009.

Speaking out: "I really feel that this France team has progressed. We have improved as a team but also have more experience about the game. For two consecutive European tournaments we are the third team in Europe and now it is necessary that we pass the last hurdle. It is the most difficult one because the teams that are ahead of us are really strong." - France forward Florent Pietrus.