Finally the drumroll ends today. No more spats, walkouts, injury scares, sulks, scandals or rows. Just football. Some doves will be released. The sky will fill with balloons.

There will be dancing children and some blather about world peace through football and then in Seoul the World Cup will begin. The moment can't come quickly enough.

Today's opening game has a lovely balance to it, a fixture which proves that the gods of football are romantic old souls. France versus Senegal. World Champions versus loveable virgins. Senegal take the stage for the first time ever and they play their old colonists France and the west African nation has thought about little else for months. What Irish person doesn't envy them that innocent anticipation?

Can there be a shock? Well, the French, strange to say of a team who are the World and European champions, come to this tournament with a slight air of mystery about them. Today they start without Zinedine Zidane and may have to play the entire first phase without him. The majestic Robert Pires is already lost to them and some working parts just don't function as smoothly as they once did.

Take the defence. France won the competition last time out by being certain that no matter how few they would score they would concede less. Given that their main striker, the hapless Stephane Guivarc'h, remained scoreless for the tournament emphasised that point. The back four that conceded just one goal from play in 1998 remains in tact but a certain decrepitude has entered the equation.

To compensate, other parts of the team have become more important. Zidane, an influential player four years ago, has reached his prime. Patrick Vieira has become increasingly important and the strike force of Thierry Henry and David Trezuguet has developed into something special.

Today injury deprives them of their balding totem and Youri Djorkaeff of Bolton Wanderers has admitted about his stand-in role for Zidane, "No player in the world could replace Zinedine."

Djourkaeff steps in and will be more than adequate though. What will soothe French worries absolutely is the ability of a Senegalese man, Vieira, to shoulder more responsibility. A bit player four years ago Vieira has grown into the French midfield and has come to prominence as French coach Roger Lemerre has wisely and subtly altered things so that the axis of the side is now with the younger players taking the burden.

How Djorkaeff is deployed will be interesting. Normally the French play a conventional back four with Emmanuel Petit and Vieira in front of them and then a devasting trio of Henry, Zidane, and Patrick Wiltord in front of them again. Trezeguet is the nominal point of attack but the trio behind him benefit from the attacking fluidity.

Today, however, to allow for the lead in the 34-year-old Djorkaeff's legs, Lemerre may be tempted to revert to an approximation of 4-4-2 with Henry moving up to partner Trezeguet and Djorkaeff and Wiltord playing wider than usual.

Certainly the French will accentuate the positive. There have been minor injuries to Lilian Thuram, Trezeguet and Philippe Christanval on the way here and the champions have approached the finals with furrowed brow, complaining not just of injuries but of a deep-seated fatigue.

This would be understandable. There's the troubling case of Fabien Barthez whose odd comedic turns for Manchester United this season suggest he is past his best. In front of him the majestic Thuram has slowed while the elegance of Marcel Desailly and Frank Lebeouf has waned.

The French have some difficulties to overcome. That nagging tiredness first. Twelve of their players won domestic or European honours at the end of a long season. Of those that didn't most competed all the way with the likes of Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Chelsea.

And then there's that old déjà vu. Since they got knocked out in the semi-final of the European Championships in 1996 on penalties, the French have been omnipotent. Somewhere in their psyche there must be a feeling that all this is too familiar and comfortable.

Then there is the diet which has consisted almost exclusively of friendlies. They came here on something of a slump in that context - a scoreless draw to Russia and a defeat to Belgium. Maybe there is a soft, paunchy underbelly to Les bleus.

They face a Senegalese side whose familiarity with the French game is intimate. All the squad, bar one of the reserve goalkeepers, play their game in France. (Salif Daio, who signed for Liverpool this week will soon be another exception.) Senegal are no makeweights here and would be due respect if only for their achievement in coming through Africa's toughest qualifying group conceding just two goals and then losing the African Nations Cup on penalties to Cameroon.

They are managed by Frenchman Bruno Metsu whose acumen is up to getting at least a point out of the game. The Senegalese are built tough. It starts at the back where the imposing Aliou Cisse marshals the centre with Lamine Diatta. In midfield Daio does the enforcing as he will for Liverpool next season. The excitement comes from the right side where full back Ferdinand Coly and winger Khalilou Fadiga work their trade. Crosses from the pair have been the preamble to most of their best moments and Fadiga's dead-ball skill is another arrow in their quiver.

Most prized of their assets though is the wonderful bleach-haired striker El Hadji Diouf whose eight goals in nine African qualifying games got them to Japan. Still just 21, Diouf (and Coly, Diop and Sarr) made a major impact on the French championship with RC Lens this year and his performances for Senegal made him African Footballer of the Year this year. He is partnered by Henri Camara, the Senegalese equivalent of Damien Duff in that his home is on the wings but playing up front from necessity. If the French want an early measure of how much Lebouef and Desailly may have declined it could come today.

The French went to Euro 2000 in poor form but they galvanise during competition. Today will be a test but one of those which they are used to passing. Success today, and Zizou still to return at the heart of their side, will take the frown from their faces.