Zidane in doubt for first round

ZINEDINE ZIDANE could miss all of France’s first round matches in their defence of the World Cup and has been put under intensive treatment, the team doctor said yesterday.

Zidane and France confirmed that he will miss at least the World Cup gala opening match between the defending champions and Senegal in Seoul on Friday because of the thigh muscle injury suffered in France’s 3-2 defeat of South Korea on Sunday.

he world’s most expensive player said he is hopeful of getting back for the second Group A match against Uruguay on June 6. Doctors indicated however that there is no guarantee Zidane will even be able to play the third group match against Denmark on June 11.

“What is sure is that he will not play in the match against Senegal,” French team doctor Jean-Marcel Ferret told a press conference. “Afterwards, anything is possible between this match and, say, the second round.” Ferret added that Zidane could make a speedy recovery.

France already has striker Thierry Henry battling knee problems, though he is expected to play in the opening match.

The loss of Zidane is a major blow to the preparations of coach Roger Lemerre. The team trained behind closed doors yesterday and Ferret insisted there was “no atmosphere of depression”.

Zidane was the architect of France’s 3-0 win over Brazil in the 1998 final in Paris and has continued to be one of the major players on the world stage. He scored a brilliant winning goal in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the European Champions League final this month.

“The French team is obviously stronger with him. Zidane is an exceptional player and when he is in the team he always gives it life,” Lemerre said.

Other players in the squad admitted the injury had been a major fright.

But French soccer legend Michel Platini said the injury was a chance for the French team to prove it is really the best.

“If France can get Zidane back for the second match that’s good. If the French team is really strong it must be able to do without a player like Zidane for one or two matches,” he said on the sidelines of the FIFA congress in Seoul.