news from France team - 足球

The big news, of course, is still the state of playmaker Zinedine Zidane's
left thigh.

Whilst he has started doing ball-work, most notably taking part in an
on-pitch dribbling exercise through traffic cones under the watchful eye of
the team's medical staff, he remains uncertain for Thursday's game.

For the moment, the French back-room staff are refraining from making any
official statements and stubbornly repeating that the number 10 is rigorously
adhering to his treatment programme in order to speed up the healing process
of the quadriceps muscle injury - something in between a tear and a pull - in
his left thigh.

Youri Djorkaeff, who has a hamstring problem and whose Monday work-out was
restricted to a morning jog, is also doubtful for the Uruguay game. He was
rested Monday afternoon whilst his team-mates played six-a-side on a smaller
pitch.

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