Zidane: 'I'm not back as a saviour'

FRENCH soccer great Zinedine Zidane says he doesn't want to be dubbed a "saviour" after deciding to make his international comeback.

The Real Madrid playmaker, who earned 93 caps, said he had found his motivation again. His announcement on Wednesday raised hopes at home that France can turn around a flagging World Cup qualifying campaign.

"I have found again the motivation I might have lost a while ago," he said.

"But I'm not coming back as a saviour, I'm not Zorro," he added.

Zidane will return when France meet Ivory Coast in a friendly on August 17 in Montpellier after quitting international football when France crashed out of Euro 2004 at the hands of eventual winners Greece.

The 1998 world champion said he was eager to feel under pressure again for France with the team struggling in their World Cup qualifying Group Four in fourth behind Ireland, Switzerland and Israel.

"To be at your best, you need to be constantly under pressure and that is what I want," he said.

"I love the France shirt, I want to help this side. Last year, I had lost my motivation on the pitch."

France will meet the Faroe Islands in Lens, before travelling to Ireland and Switzerland. Their last game will be against Cyprus at the Stade de France. But Zidane is convinced Les Bleus will qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

"We need to be positive, we have to be convinced France will qualify. I am convinced we will qualify," said the former Juventus player, who did not make clear if he would play in the World Cup should Les Bleus qualify.

Zidane, who said he met France coach Raymond Domenech "two or three times", added he was now extremely impatient to come back.

"I feel good. I feel relieved after my announcement," he said.

"I am happy to know that in two weeks I will be with my friends again. I am extra motivated to win everything this year."

Zidane said he was preparing for his most emotional game with France, 11 years to the day after making his international debut against the Czech Republic in Bordeaux.

"It's going to be more moving than the Bordeaux game. I cannot wait, it makes me itch."

Zidane also said he was convinced Juventus defender Lilian Thuram would follow his example and return to international football after his retirement.

Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele is also returning to international football after retiring, Zidane said on Wednesday.

French newspapers hailed Zidane as "The Saviour" yesterday after his decision to come out of retirement.

Le Parisien devoted most of its first three pages to covering the comeback by the three-times World Player of the Year, and LCI television lauded his skills in a profile it repeated with its regular news updates.

"Zidane restores hope to an entire people," ran a headline in Le Parisien. The conservative daily Le Figaro wrote of "The incredible return of 'Zinedine Zorro'".

The left-leaning Liberation newspaper said Zidane could lift France. The team lies fourth behind Ireland, Switzerland and Israel in their World Cup qualifying group and faces a struggle to win a spot in next year's finals in Germany.

The media's joy at his return was tinged with concern that the gifted number 10 may no longer command the strength and skill that made him one of soccer's greatest ever players.

"It is not at all certain that Zidane, slower and more physically fragile, is the appropriate man to save a country in peril," wrote Le Figaro.

Sports daily L'Equipe caught the mood of jubilation among ordinary fans, filling its front page with a picture of Zidane under the headline "He's coming back".

"The French team will compete with its best assets," it wrote.

"Down for a year, it needed an electric shock. It has happened. Now it's just about playing football," it continued.

France midfielder Jerome Rothen said: "When I first heard it I thought it was a joke.

"It's fantastic news," the Paris St Germain player said. "He's the greatest player in the world."

"It's a good surprise," said former France coach Gerard Houllier, who now coaches French champions Olympique Lyon.

"When he's at his best, he can play in any side in the world, including Brazil," the former Liverpool manager said.

"His decision is a brave one because he is changing his mind, a generous one because he wants to help the team and an intelligent one because he realises the team need him and he needs the team," Houllier added.