France's dramatic World Cup qualification can have a positive knock-on effect at Arsenal, according to Arsene Wenger.
Les Bleus seemed to be heading out of the competition on Friday after losing the first leg of their play-off against Ukraine. But they turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 aggregate win in Paris on Tuesday and will head to Brazil for next summer's finals.
Laurent Koscielny, Bacary Sagna and Olivier Giroud were all part of the squad against Ukraine and Wenger believes their joy can influence their club displays - even if they now face a busy close season in 2014.
"I have a smile on my face because first it was a relief [for France] to go through"
"That is the problem of course but still, you want overall the players to be in a positive mood, to have a good self-esteem, and that of course comes by thinking you have the job done," Wenger told Arsenal Player.
"I have a smile on my face because first it was a relief [for France] to go through. You have to give credit to Ukraine, they were unlucky, a little bit, because they got a man sent off and they conceded an offside goal. Overall you could not forget that Ukraine gave a fantastic resistance.
"It's positive for France because it was a big relief and the country needed it.
"There is a lot of unrest between the French national team and the country, since South Africa [at the 2010 World Cup], and that they could turn a situation like that in a positive way will help people to love the national team again."
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