Cissé looks forward to 'special night'

Olympique de Marseille striker Djibril Cissé is thrilled to be returning to his footballing roots as France take on Georgia at the Abbé Deschamps Stadium tonight.

Auxerre prodigy
The 25-year-old started his career under legendary AJ Auxerre coach Guy Roux - who returned to football with RC Lens yesterday - and is hoping to get another chance to grace the pitch where it all began. "I have only been back once since I left for Liverpool [FC in June 2004] and that was for Guy Roux's testimonial but I have not played a competitive or friendly game since. It will be a very special night for me as I have tons of fond memories of that place."

Hard training
Cissé has plenty of reasons to remember Auxerre with fondness after spending the first six seasons of his professional career at the club. "Auxerre is the place I learnt to be a professional," he said. "I was 15 when I joined the academy. On the first day I visited the stadium - wow! But a few minutes later I was in the countryside jogging - awful! I had never imagined that you could have a training session without touching the ball."

'Father and son'
Now, the Arles-born player is pleased he was made to toil under Roux. "I learned everything here and intend to do my utmost to make a comeback [against Georgia]," he said. "I have to thank Guy Roux for everything. We're like father and son. He made me what I am today." Under Roux, Cissé was Ligue 1's top scorer twice, with 22 goals in the 2001/02 campaign and 26 in 2003/04. He also made the first of his 34 international appearances while he was at Auxerre.

France beckons
Cissé suffered the second double fracture of his career in a FIFA World Cup warm-up game on 7 July last year, and was loaned to Marseille in the latter part of this season by Liverpool. After scoring eight times in 21 games to help his boyhood heroes return to the UEFA Champions League next season, he is keen to make the move permanent. He said: "I belong here but an agreement needs to be reached, but it would be no problem at all for me to go back to Liverpool."

Good precedent
In the meantime, he will concentrate on his international career as he looks to thrill the crowd at the Abbé Deschamps once more. The UEFA EURO 2008™ Group B leaders certainly have reason to expect a good night for strikers. In the only previous competitive international at the stadium 12 years ago, France beat Azerbaijan 10-0 in a EURO '96™ qualifier.