Faroe Islands 0 France 2: Patrick Vieira is out of the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifier clash with France in Paris on October 9th after the French captain was sent off in a lacklustre win over the Faroe Islands yesterday.

Although they won with goals from midfielder Ludovic Giuly and substitute striker Djibril Cisse - who replaced the injured Louis Saha after only nine minutes - their victory was marred by Vieira's 56th-minute dismissal for a second yellow card, either for diving or abusing the referee.

After the 0-0 home draw with Israel at the weekend, the match against the Faroes confirmed the French have a far bigger task ahead of them in their quest to qualify from Group Four.

France, lacking in imagination and organisation since Zinedine Zidane retired, often looked clumsy and were dominated by a hard-working Faroes side for the first 20 minutes.

The home side even put the frail French defence under pressure with some swift counter-attacks.

Raymond Domenech's team had to wait for half-an-hour before breaking through a solid back line when Giuly scored on the rebound after goalkeeper Jakup Mikkelsen saved from Robert Pires. France were more at ease after Cisse scored their second goal on 73 minutes but the hosts continued to pressure until the final whistle.

"I'm concerned about what I saw today," Domenech said after the game. "We should have showed much more will in the physical challenge.

"If you are not capable of lifting your game you will find yourself in trouble. In a way the Faroe Islands showed us the way we should have played. They never gave up."

FAROE ISLANDS: Mikkelsen; Olsen, Thorsteinsson, Jacobsen, Johannesen; Jacobsen (Flotum, 75), Johnsson, Jorgensen (Danielsen, 83), Benjaminsen, Borg, Frederiksberg (Petersen, 69)

FRANCE: Coupet; Gallas, Squillaci, Givet, Evra; Vieira, Pedretti, Giuly, Pires; Henry (Dhorasoo, 64), Saha (Cisse, 9). Sent off: Vieira (56 mins)

Referee: C Thomson (Scotland).