England defender John Terry believes the pressure will be on France when the two sides meet for a high-stakes opener to Euro 2004 next month.

Though France will go into the Group B game on June 13 as holders, Jacques Santini's men will need no reminding of the fiasco of their World Cup title defence two years ago.

Terry, who watched the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan on television, pointed to France's group stage exit without scoring a goal, saying: "Maybe the pressure is on them.

"They didn't have a very good World Cup and they will want to prove people wrong.

"I think it's a good thing to play them first. It's a chance for us, if we get a good result, to get on from there.

"They are obviously a world class side, but if we do well it will help confidence."

England will meet plenty of familiar faces in Lisbon, with Santini able to call on Terry's Chelsea team mates Marcel Desailly, William Gallas and Claude Makelele, Arsenal's quartet of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira and Sylvain Wiltord, plus Manchester United's Mikael Silvestre and Louis Saha.

"We know about eight or nine of their side, we see them week in week out," Terry said. "They are a good side but we have to take the game to them and show we are good side as well.

ENGLAND'S BELIEF

"We've got a great set of players and we've got a belief that we can go all the way."

Terry will be in the starting line-up after Sol Campbell's usual partner in central defence, Rio Ferdinand, was banned for eight months for missing a drugs test and two alternatives, Gareth Southgate and Jonathan Woodgate, both suffered injuries.

It is a far cry from 2002, when Terry was ruled out of international duty for around eight months until he was cleared of all charges after a court case that followed an assault on a nightclub bouncer.

"When the World Cup was on it was a massive target of mine to play in Euro 2004," Terry said.

"I was sitting there watching it, I wasn't able to play for the under-21s or get a call-up to the senior squad because of things that were going on off the pitch with my court case.

"I was disappointed with that, but I set my targets high and thankfully I'm here today."

Looking back on a season where his club secured second place in the English premier league, a semi-final slot in the Champions League and he won a place in England's Euro 2004 squad, Terry was clearly satisfied with the progress.

"I think it's been a good season," he said. "I think things have gone well with Chelsea and I've made the step up with England, which is a dream come true."