Ireland's greatest fears were confirmed on Wednesday when Zinedine Zidane marked his international return with a masterful display against the Ivory Coast.
After a year of laboured performances, France looked like a different team in Montpellier, sealing a stylish 3-0 win thanks to goals from William Gallas, Thierry Henry and the comeback king himself, Zidane.
Les Bleus manager Raymond Domenech tried to give credit to the whole team but had to admit that one man effectively holds the key to France's World Cup hopes.
"This performance is confirmation that the team is getting better," Domenech said. "But I can't deny that Zidane's return was a major factor. He scored a great goal and he got the team playing again.
"He'll help us progress at a faster rate because he's a unique player and he makes the team shine. Everyone is happy when Zidane's playing well. When great players are on form, the rest of the team follows. Everything that happened tonight was strongly symbolic."
The Real Madrid playmaker said before the game he was not a natural leader because he did not talk enough, but his mere presence provided inspiration to those around him and justified Domenech's decision to award him the captaincy.
Zidane's crisp interplay with midfielders Vikash Dhorasoo and Claude Makelele, who was back after a 10-month break, injected zip into France's play while his goal - a left-foot volley from Sylvain Wiltord's corner - oozed class.
After winning his 94th France cap, the 33-year-old said: "I felt emotional during the national anthem. It reminded me of my debut 11 years ago. But I was soon concentrating on the game and I felt it went well.
"Everyone is happy but we know that this wasn't the most important match," Zidane continued. "The two matches in September are the ones that count, even if this was good preparation. Now it's important we don't worry too much and just make sure we perform against the Faroe Islands and Ireland."
France are likely to make just one change when they visit Lansdowne Road on September 7th. Patrick Vieira was deemed unfit to face the Ivory Coast but will return to the midfield, in place of Florent Malouda if Domenech reverts to a more compact formation, or as a straight swap for Dhorasoo.
David Trezeguet, also unfit on Wednesday, misses the game through suspension, so Henry will continue as a lone striker.
One Frenchman struggling to raise a smile on Wednesday was Lilian Thuram. The defender, who became France's second-most-capped player, saw his comeback cut short by a 23rd-minute injury.
Although France kept a clean sheet, Ireland should draw encouragement from the fact they looked far from secure against a potent Ivory Coast attack, particularly after Thuram went off.
"France were there for the taking at times," said forward Bonaventure Kalou, while France right back Willy Sagnol admitted: "We were caught out of position too often. The Ivory Coast should have scored one or two goals."
Thuram is likely to be fit in time to play in Dublin, however, and he said he was expecting a real battle against Brian Kerr's team.
"It's only a minor thigh strain," Thuram said. "I'm determined to play against Ireland because it will be a great game. I don't think they'll be scared of us. If I was Irish and I heard that Zidane, Makelele and Thuram were coming back, I'd be more motivated than ever. There's no doubt they'll throw everything at us and they'll try to prove a point."
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