France safe in Barthez's hands

By Christian Châtelet

France coach Jacques Santini has given Fabien Barthez a vote of confidence before the defending champions' forthcoming UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifiers.

Nearly there
The French face Cyprus on Saturday knowing a victory and either a draw or defeat for Slovenia at home against Israel on the same day will secure their place in Portugal next summer. Even if that does not happen, the French would get a second chance in qualifying Group 1 next Wednesday when they travel to Ljubljana to play the second-placed Slovenians.

Full support
While Santini has not confirmed his lineup for the Stade de France this weekend, he has said Barthez will definitely start. The 32-year-old has lost his place in the Manchester United FC side to American international Tim Howard and some had thought Santini would stick to his rule of only selecting players who were regulars for their clubs.

Not concerned
However, Santini said: "The season is just beginning and I'm sure he will be back with United. He played two important friendly matches and was involved in United's pre-season preparations. He's fully operational. It's the reason why he will start against Cyprus and Slovenia."

Still content
Barthez is happy in Manchester and is unworried about starting the season on the bench. "If such problems had happened earlier in my career I'd have reacted in a more demonstrative way," he said. "Now I'm experienced enough to know that I'll be back soon."

Makelele move
Midfield man Claude Makelele is in a similar position to Barthez in terms of match practice, but is also set to start on Saturday after leaving Real Madrid CF for Chelsea FC at the start of the week. His presence is particularly vital as former Madrid colleague Zinedine Zidane will not be fit after suffering a thigh strain in midweek league action.

Key contest
If France do the business against Cyprus, then the Slovenians will probably have to be content with cementing their hold on second place. Their main rivals are Saturday's opponents Israel, who are two points behind and take on minnows Malta the following Wednesday when Slovenia meet the French. Slovenia coach Bojan Prašnikar is without the suspended Muamer Vugdalic and Miran Pavlin but has an experienced pool to call from including Zlatko Zahovic. Yet the Israelis - who are expected to field three central defenders - also have a strong squad, especially with the return of playmaker Eyal Berkovic.

Trezeguet return
While these two nations effectively battle it out for a play-off place, France can concentrate on automatic qualification. One man raring to go is Juventus FC forward David Trezeguet, back in the fold after a knee injury. "I'm glad to back," he said. "It is a team that is enjoyable to play in, there's a lot of quality and desire, you want to be a part of it."

Summer fun
He was particularly eager to get going again after missing out on the national team's summer exploits. "Although I wasn't there, I'm happy the French team won the [FIFA] Confederations Cup because it showed we want to win things, and now we have these two qualifying matches and if we win them both, we'll be through."

Firing again
After the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals when they were knocked out in the first round, France have bounced back with five qualifying wins out of five. With Trezeguet, the man who scored the decisive goal to give them the UEFA EURO 2000™ title, back on song, Les Bleus are once again the team to beat.