Zidane looks for magic spark on his France return

The Real Madrid playmaker has targeted the Montpellier game as the first step on a comeback journey he hopes will end with him leading Les Bleus at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

"I feel ready for it," a smiling Zidane told reporters on Tuesday two weeks after making his personal U-turn to help a struggling France side qualify for next year's World Cup.

Zidane, who quit the international game a day after France suffered a quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual winners Greece at Euro 2004, accepts his team need to rediscover their magic spark.

"There is something missing, this confidence every team needs," he said. "We have to find this sparkle that we now miss, something we used to have that just left us.

"For that, we need to win games," he added, saying the Ivory Coast game would be "tough and physical".

Zidane, who has taken over the skipper's armband from Juventus midfielder Patrick Vieira, denied he had sought out the France captaincy.

CAPTAINCY DISCUSSIONS

"I did not steal it from Patrick," he said. "There have been discussions with coach Raymond Domenech. He asks me to take the armband, I take it."

Zidane added he would captain France in his own style.

"I'm not like Didier Deschamps, I do not talk a lot," he said. "But on the pitch, I like to boost the lads. I love it actually."

The world's most expensive player does not feel any added pressure after a year's absence from the international game.

"There is no pressure," he said. "I'm just looking forward to playing again for France and leading the team to the World Cup."

France, World Cup winners in 1998, are struggling in fourth place behind Ireland, Switzerland and Israel in European qualifying Group Four.

They meet the Faroe Islands in Lens in their next qualifier on September 3, before away games in Ireland four days later and Switzerland on October 8.