Franck Ribery turned up at the 2006 World Cup as France's secret weapon — the joker in Raymond Domenech's pack — with only a handful of minutes of international soccer under his belt.
But with his lightning speed and terrier-like tenacity he quickly left his mark on the tournament, exploding onto the scene in Hanover in France’s second round clash with Spain.
At 1-0 down he grabbed his first international goal, memorably latching on to Patrick Vieira’s pass, neatly sidestepping keeper Iker Casillas and seeing off two Spanish players to set France up for victory.
PHOTO: AFP
He then went on an 80m long celebratory run, throwing himself into the arms of the ecstatic French bench — the man who has taken over the baton from Zinedine Zidane had come of age.
Ribery, 25, is far too modest a soul to sing his own praises — but Zidane for one was always convinced the young tyro had a significant part to play in France’s fortunes.
“Franck is someone who has an influence on the team’s spirit each time he comes onto the pitch,” Zidane said. “He’ll become someone important in football.”
The great man can rarely have made a more astute prophecy.
His World Cup exploits in helping France reach the final earned him a record 26 million euro (US$40.4 million) transfer from Marseille to Bayern Munich last year.
And he has already helped repay a large chunk of that enormous fee with a memorable goalfest in his first season to inspire Bayern to a 21st Bundesliga title and German Cup victory.
“He is an artist with a football,” Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness said.
The Bavarian giant’s coach Ottmar Hitzfeld went even further.
“I personally congratulate Franck for his consistency throughout the season. Without him we’d never have won the double,” Hitzfeld said.
The only cloud on an otherwise sunny season was crashing out of the UEFA Cup semi-finals to Zenit St. Petersburg.
His outstanding form for Bayern means he turns up for France’s Group C games with Italy, the Netherlands and Romania oozing confidence.
“In terms of the French team, I feel better than before, now I’m a leader,” said the devout Muslim, who is instantly recognizable with a searing scar down one side of his face — the legacy of a car crash.
For Domenech one of Ribery’s great assets is his flexibility.
“We know he can go on the right, on the left, that presents a real problem to the opposing team,” Domenech said. “That which is rigid is programmable, with Franck nothing is programmable.”
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