BUSAN, South Korea (AP):

A sullen French soccer fan after France tied with Uruguay in their Group A match at the World Cup Finals in Pusan yesterday. The match ended in a 0-0 draw. - Reuters

IT WAS a match the French team had said it was going to win, to silence critics and prove its World Cup hopes were back on track.

Instead, the defending champions struggled to a goalless draw against Uruguay yesterday, leaving a stunning victory against Denmark as their only hope of avoiding elimination.

"We had expected a lot from this match," French coach Roger Lemerre said, looking ashen-faced. "We are left with a small hope."

France need to beat Denmark to have a chance of advancing to the second round. "Les Bleus" lost 1-0 to Senegal in their opener.

"With a margin of two goals we can qualify," Lemerre said. "But we didn't score against Senegal or Uruguay, and a two-goal margin is a lot."

France are on the brink of becoming the first titleholders to exit the World Cup in the first round since Brazil in 1966.

They were lucky to escape that fate yesterday.

Missing injured midfielder Zinedine Zidane, the French were dealt a huge blow when striker Thierry Henry received a questionable red card in the 25th minute.

Early in the second half, Uruguay came close to scoring when striker Alvaro Recoba fired wide of the empty French goal. And in injury time, Fabien Barthez stopped a point-blank attempt from Federico Magallenes that would have sent France out of the competition.

"Without Barthez, Uruguay could have scored," Lemerre said. "It's always hard to play with just 10 players. We knew how to play tactically, we organised ourselves well, and we had a few chances to score."

Emmanuel Petit sent a beautiful curling free kick into Fabian Cariani's left goalpost in the 35th minute for one of France's best chances. A Uruguayan defender cleared away Sylvain Wiltord's close-range attempt in second-half injury time.

"Today we can be proud of ourselves," French midfielder Patrick Vieira said. "We had opportunities, and with only 10 men we deserved to win the match more than them.

"We hope that Zidane will be fit to score some goals," Vieira said. "We need him."

Zidane tore a thigh muscle in a friendly against South Korea and missed the Senegal game. He was replaced yesterday by Johan Micoud, who lacked Zidane's sparkle.

"The good thing is that we are still alive," Uruguay coach Victor Pua said whose side is tied at the bottom of the standings with France with a point each. "The tie was a fair result. Finally the team played the way I want."

"We could have played better," Recoba said. "I could have played better. It doesn't happen very often that we get chances like the ones we got today"

Recoba, who plays for Inter Milan, got an early chance in the 18th minute, shooting low on a pass off the right wing from Dario Silva.

The ball changed direction slightly off the foot of French defender Lilian Thurman with goalkeeper Fabien Barthez sticking out his right foot to stop the shot as he was moving to his left, fooled by the deflection.

Seven minutes later, France were stunned when Henry was red-carded by Mexican referee Felipe Ramos Rizo for a high challenge on Uruguay's Marcelo Romero. He went in with his studs up, although the tackle did not seem particularly blatant.

The striker will miss the next game against Denmark -- a huge disadvantage for the goal-hungry French.

French fans roared in outrage when Silva made a similar tackle against Vieira in the 45th minute, and wasn't even given a yellow card.

"The Uruguayans were speaking to the referee in Spanish," Vieira said. "But there's no reason to have any doubt about his decisions."

French defender Frank Leboeuf went off in the 16th with a groin injury, replaced by Vincent Candela.

Recoba twice came close to scoring in the 52nd. Unbelievably, he missed the second chance after beating the advancing Barthez, and hit the side of the net as the goal lay empty.

France nearly pulled the game out at the start of injury time when Bixente Lizarazu sent a through-ball to Wiltord, who was denied by a defender. A minute later at the other end, Federico Magallanes closed down alone on Barthez and blasted a shot point-blank from 15 meters (yards) that Barthez stopped with his left foot -- saving the little chance France has of advancing.