Euro 2004 countdown: Matt Scott talks to Zinedine Zidane, who argues that while France's Euro 2004 rivals have little to fear from him alone, they should be terrified of Les Bleus.
Humiliation at the 2002 World Cup has left France fans' ardour undimmed. Cafés on Parisian boulevards buzz with talk of how a fit and on-form Zinedine Zidane will lead the team inexorably to European Championship victory on July 4th.
Sensibly, though, France's players do not share such runaway enthusiasm. For them the lessons of two years ago admit no presumption.
They did not need England's 6-1 win over Iceland at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday to be reminded of the potential pitfalls of their opening match in Lisbon in five days' time. For some of them David Beckham and his band are more than household names, they are dressing-room buddies.
"Beckham's a player I've got to know over the past year, one who's had a very good season, and he's a formidable player," said Zidane of his Real Madrid team-mate. "I think he's demonstrated that this year.
"Even after changing position he's still been a quite simply terrific player. Now, of course, I'm hoping that Sunday's game will be difficult for him and that for us we can control him."
As England's captain, Beckham reverts to the position he always occupied at Manchester United, on the right-hand side of midfield. From there he will be in direct opposition with his Bernabeu team-mate.
Should Beckham and his fellow Englishmen be scared of Zidane's capabilities? "I don't know. No," said the world footballer of the year.
"Should you be scared of the France team? Maybe yes - because we've got a good team, a team good enough to go a long way. But I think we can say the same thing about English football and the England team.
"It'll be a very difficult match, very hard to win, so we have to do everything we can to have a better approach to it. But on the other hand, when we're at our best we can do special things."
After Madrid's disastrous finish to the season, in which they notched up a club-record five successive defeats, Beckham and Zidane have undergone a critical mauling in Spain.
There has been much concern that Beckham's state of mind has been adversely affected by the press's censure and allegations of turmoil in his private life. But if it has been, the England captain is not alone.
"My end of season was arduous and I lived through two very hard months," Zidane admitted. "Above all it is my morale that has taken a blow."
There was no evidence of Zidane struggling with any physical or mental problem in his goalscoring display in Sunday's 1-0 win over Ukraine at the Stade de France. But, even if he should be out of sorts against England, there are other creative talents cracking their fingers to take over from the maestro.
One of them, Robert Pires, who has been shunted to the right wing to accommodate Zidane's roving role, will also be in direct competition with a team-mate when he comes face to face with Ashley Cole.
"Playing against Ashley Cole will be a bit bizarre for me because for the most of the season I've played with him as a team-mate," said Pires. "It's true that he's a friend today but you can say that he won't be any more for 90 minutes.
"That's the way it is. It's the law of sport and we're there to win. We'll leave in the past what we've done in a fantastic year with Arsenal. Like he's said about me, I'll try to put Ashley in my pocket."
The England youngster's job has arguably been made easier by the right-footed Pires's need to hug the touchline, which he was prone to do on Sunday night.
"If I'm honest about it, I prefer to be on the left," said Pires. "But I'm there to adapt. We've not had too much time to put it into practice and make it automatic for me but it's fine. I'm there and I'm happy about it.
"I obviously prefer it the other way round but for me it's very interesting and I'm doing what's necessary to help the team."
Guardian Service
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