Keane alert for France in qualifiers

FRANCE striker Louis Saha last night warned his compatriots they will find Ireland a much more difficult proposition in upcoming World Cup ties if his Old Trafford team-mate Roy Keane is in the team.

Saha, who made a very positive impact when introduced as a substitute against Switzerland in Coimbra on Monday, said Keane’s recovery from injury was the incentive he required to return to international football for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers.

Saha suggested this was bad news for France: “There is no doubt Ireland are going to be much stronger opposition with Roy in the side. That is obvious. He has probably been Manchester United’s most important player over the past ten years. He has had a huge part in their success. He is truly a great player.

“I am glad he has come back because I think it is something he wants to do and it is something which will make him happy.”

Saha made his European Championship debut when introduced for David Trezeguet after 75 minutes. In that short period he showed much more initiative than the Juventus player had in France’s three matches and it will be interesting to see if he is retained against Greece.

Saha spoke of his impatience at waiting to see some action in these championships. “It was difficult for me to be patient and wait for my chance to come in this tournament but I was just happy to be here.

“We have very good and experienced players like Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet in the squad so I cannot really expect to start in the team.”

Of Keane, he said: “It did not really come as a surprise to me when he announced he was going to return to international football. You could see that he had regained his power and strength after injury to play at the very top and he clearly felt he was able to play for Ireland again.

“He said he had unfinished business. Now he has come back to try to finish it.”

Switzerland’s Christoph Spycher was less certain of Keane’s potential impact: “Will he make a difference? We will see. He is a very important player for the team but in this qualification campaign Ireland had a very good team and they will go on playing with eleven players. It is not that they will play with twelve so we will see, we will try everything to go to Germany. So will Ireland and so will France.

“The games against Ireland this time will also be very important but we have also to play against the other teams ... Israel have a very good team so it is not just the two games against Ireland that will decide who is going to the World Cup.”