Soccer: France cannot afford another slip against Uruguay

French hopes of retaining their World Cup soccer crown could dissolve tomorrow when they play Uruguay in a group A match neither side can afford to lose.

Since they stumbled 0-1 to Senegal last friday in one of the biggest shocks in the tournament's history, the champions have been licking both their physical and psychological wounds.

Uruguay, who were the last of the 32 finalists to qualify, also lost their first game, 1-2 to Denmark, and will be desperate to avoid an early return home to Montevideo.

Many question marks still hang over France but one has almost become an obsession: the condition of injured playmaker Zinedine Zidane.

The inspirational midfielder missed the opening match with a torn thigh muscle and is doubtful to face the Uruguayans.

The world's most expensive player has since adopted an aloof stance, increasing speculation about his fitness.

Zidane has declined to appear publicly since joining his team-mates in the Japanese coastal city of Ibusuki two weeks ago.

But he was quoted in Spanish sports daily newspaper Marca earlier this week saying he would not take any risks and would not try an untimely comeback.

"We can't afford another slip," coach Roger Lemerre said.

"Even a draw will not be acceptable. We have two matches to play and we must win both of them.

"But it's for sure France don't perform at the same level when Zidane is absent," he said, admitting that France cannot really cope without their playmaker.

Since the start of the year, the French have never won when their talisman has been sidelined. They were held to a draw by Russia and lost to Belgium at home in warm-up "friendlies" before slumping to the highly organised Senegalese.

They now have just a hard-fought victory over World Cup co-hosts South Korea to show for their last four games, a record hardly worthy of world champions.

Zidane started that match but was substituted after 38 minutes with his thigh injury.

"We are anxious to have him back in the team as soon as possible. He is our best player," said striker David Trezeguet, who badly missed his main source of supply against Senegal.

Always very discrete when asked about strategy, Lemerre has for once given some tips about his probable starting 11.

"Having Johan Micoud in the team is something I'm really considering," he said, adding that Youri Djorkaeff, disappointing against Senegal, would be only considered for the bench.

"I thought Djorkaeff was the best player to slot in the Zidane position against Senegal. But after an hour, I realised that changes needed to be made."

Lemerre has also hinted that the old 4-3-3 formation favoured by former coach Aime Jacquet in the victorious 1998 World Cup campaign could be an option.

"Having three defensive midfielders is something I'm considering too. Claude Makelele is with us," he said.

He stressed that France had developed a winning mentality and were not familiar with defeat.

"Over the last four years we have been used to this culture of victory. It's something new for us," Lemerre said.

France are heading into unknown territory as they know very little about Uruguay, a side they have not played since 1985.

"We don't know them well. But we know that we have always found it hard to cope with South American football," Argentina-born Trezeguet said.

"We lost to Chile last year and we had had to struggle to beat Paraguay in 1998."

Uruguay's influential midfielder Fabian O'Neill has still not recovered from an Achilles tendon injury. He has not trained for over two weeks and sat out the Denmark match.

They responded to O'Neill's absence by playing two strikers, with Alvaro Recoba playing as an attacking midfielder behind them, and are likely to opt for the same tactics in Pusan.

Uruguay coach Victor Pua was not too dispirited after the Danish defeat.

"Our morale remains high, we are still in the competition and we are looking ahead to the next two matches."

But he knows they must be at their best to avoid a French backlash and that means avoiding the defensive errors that allowed Denmark striker Jon Dahl Tomasson to score twice.

- REUTERS

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