MADRID (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - France were praised throughout the world for their mental toughness in shocking Spain in the Quarter-Finals of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. After being a bit too immature in their Semi-Final loss to Serbia, Les Bleus look to regroup and fight off Lithuania in the Third-Place Game to collect their first-ever podium finish at FIBA's flagship event.

"We have to win," said Nicolas Batum, who fended off a hard knock to his head to score 35 points in the 90-85 loss to Serbia on Friday night.

A podim finish (in FIBA's flagship event), that's never been done in French basketball. - Batum

"If we don't find the motivation, there's no point in competing in this sport. The Final, that's over with, we won't play it. We can't dwell on it and we need to move on to something else. Let's carry on being conquerors."

France's best finish in the biggest national team tournament came in 1954 when they took fourth place.

"We'll see if we're mentally tough. It's not easy but it's a must. In that case, the physical aspect isn't as important as the mental side," said French guard Evan Fournier.

France coach Vincent Collet thought his men were a bit too immature against Serbia, especially after beating Spain.

"It was difficult to make some players come down (after the win over Spain) and get to the same concentration," he said.

"We were immature on certain sequences. I'm sure everyone wanted to have a great game. But it wasn't enough. A great game is something you have to do together. You don't beat Serbia in the Semi-Final of a World Cup with individuals but by respecting what we put in place. And we didn't do that in the first half."

We have some spirit as we have shown since the beginning of the competition. - Collet

Collet said the second half comeback from 18 points to get it down to two late in the game was a positive sign going into the third place game.

"I can't forget our effort in the second half. We came back and we were close. We started too late," he said.

FIBA