Domenech asked for his girlfriend's hand in marriage as he was being interviewed on French television station M6 - the channel Denis works for - after the 2-0 loss against Italy in Zurich.

"The only thing I am thinking of now is getting married to Estelle. I asking her for her hand in marriage," said the 56-year-old on live television.

When asked, in the press conference, why he chose that particular moment to propose, Domenech replied: "It was just a thought.

"Everyone was so sad and I thought to myself, 'Life has its beautiful moments'.

"You have to tell people you love them. In such difficult moments, you have to go to what's important. I wanted to show some emotion."

Whether such an amazing turn of events will cover up France's inadequacies at the Euros is doubtful.

Needing to win against Italy to stand a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals, Les Bleus suffered misfortune after misfortune.

Star playmaker Franck Ribery was carried off on a stretcher in the seventh minute with a knee strain before Eric Abidal was sent off for hauling Luca Toni down in the box.

Andrea Pirlo scored from the resulting spot-kick and fellow midfielder Daniele De Rossi added the second with a free-kick that deflected off Thierry Henry's foot into the back of the net.

The damage had been done in France's opening two games - a goalless draw against Romania and a 4-1 defeat to Holland - but Domenech was proud of his team's efforts against Italy.

"Yes, I am disappointed. But right now, after seeing the match and the players in the dressing room, I am proud of what they have shown," he said.

"We lost a player after 10 minutes, then saw Italy get a penalty and our player was sent off. That was a turning point.

"That handed the result to Italy but I told them [the players] I am proud of what they did. I am proud to be their head coach. It is impossible to succeed having so many catastrophes on the pitch."

Domenech almost certainly faces the sack after finishing the Group C campaign bottom of the table, with just one point and one goal scored.

But he was defiant and when questioned about his future, he added: "You should ask the president (of the French Football Federation).

"I never talk about my future. But the team, they have a future - they have shown that tonight.

"It is fairer on the players to talk about their performance on the pitch, not my future. They were brave and managed to pose Italy problems. That's what we should talk about."

Italy did their job, picking up three points at Zurich's Letzigrund, but they had to rely on Romania losing to Holland in Bern.

A largely second-string Dutch side claimed a 2-0 win, allowing the world champions to breathe again.

"I don't think it's the greatest joy I've ever felt (as Italy coach)," said Roberto Donadoni, who replaced Marcello Lippi at the helm after the Azzurri's 2006 World Cup success.

"It is just a reward for the work they have done. We have had difficulties but we have always bounced back.

"We fought hard to win, the boys had to make sacrifices. It was all thanks to their hard work and from now on, we need to look to the next game with as much determination as this one."

Despite having a numerical advantage, Italy - who face Spain in their quarter-final in Vienna on Sunday - were not always dominant over the French but scored their goals at the right times.

"We were lucky with the deflection, but we had lots of chances and weren't able to score," Donadoni added.

"France ran and never gave up. They tried their best and caused us problems even though we had 11 men. They were a man down but we weren't always superior.

"We were a bit fearful and this is one of the aspects we need to improve on."

Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso will be suspended for the Spain game after picking up their second bookings of the tournament.

"This is not a positive, but I also trust the other players we have - Mauro Camoranesi, Massimo Ambrosini, Alberto Aquilani.

"They have fought really hard and they are part of the squad. I don't consider them just people who are just there to sit on the bench."