Looking out at the Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina, their main Group D rivals, the French still have to decide on the comeback of Laurent Blanc.

Laurent Blanc is said to have made a return along with World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane, who was his teammate for 1998. The World Cup this summer have had left a deep impact on the new coach Blanc and therefore he needs to erase all the psychological scars he faced after the first-round exit.

While skipper Patrice Evra, Jeremy Toulalan and Franck Ribery face suspension as an outcome to their role as strike ringleaders, there is little probability that Nicolas Anelka would make it to the national shirt.

The foul-mouthed Nicolas Anelka had burst out at the former coach Raymond Domenech at half-time during the loss to Mexico following which, he had been sent back home and was banned for 18 matches.

Anyhow, Zidane's appearance brought in joy along with Blanc and assistants Alain Boghossian and Fabien Barthez, as they merged with the modest Brazil at Stade de France 12 years ago.

The summer events filled in the fans with a sense of enthusiasm as they cried out "Zizou!" and "a kiss for Fabien!" at the appearance of shorts-clad Zidane. It has been said that France Blanc used to kiss the former keeper's bald pate for luck during the 1998 finals.