In the opening match of the "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 International Baseball Tournament staged at Beijng's Wukesong Baseball Field on August 18, France was beaten by China. French head coach Zeilstra Jefferson Robert and two leading players, No. 26 Jamel Boutagra and No. 29 Maxime Leblanc attended the press conference after the match.

Commenting on the match, head coach Zeilstra Jefferson Robert said their performance was not so good. Several leading players were out early. In the contrast, the host team gave a perfect performance. The reason of their defeat was the defense.
 
No. 26, Jamel Boutagra thought that the organization of this tournament was very successful and the Chinese team had made great progress.  "We played with China five years ago. At that time the two teams were closely matched in strength," he recalled. "Of course we will face teams from the Czech Republic and Japan and we hope to give a better performance in the following days," he added.

No.29, Maxime Leblanc thought that the French team was in good form. The reason of their losing the first match was that most of them hadn't taken regular training." In this tournament, many of our young players have not played together for long and so they could not display good teamwork. The Chinese team was strong and they gave us a lot of pressure."

When asked if the heat in Beijing was a reason for their loss, the French head coach answered with a smile, "We also want an excuse like this, but the performance of the Chinese team was really good. Our pitchers still have much to improve."