Mamadou Sakho pleased with France progress

France defender Mamadou Sakho has expressed his delight at his side's progress to the 2014 World Cup finals.

The 23-year-old Liverpool centre-back was on target for Les Bleus as they got the better of Ukraine 3-0 in the second leg of their playoff tie in Paris on Tuesday to go through 3-2 on aggregate.

"There's pure happiness and we've written a page in French football history with this," Ligue1.com quotes him as saying. "A lot of people didn't believe in us but there were also plenty who did.

"France showed a lot of virtues and it was extraordinary for everybody. I don't see myself as a hero; the team was the hero in this one. I'd never previously scored a double in my career.

"We're going to Brazil and we have to take on board the lessons from all of our matches, not just this one."

Sakho joined Liverpool from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2013.