Domenech may ignore pressure to pick in-form Ribery

A large proportion of France's 60 million armchair national team coaches have already picked Franck Ribery in their World Cup squad.

It remains to be seen, however, whether Raymond Domenech will when he names his list tomorrow.

Arguably the finest player in Ligue 1 this season, the attacking midfielder from Olympique Marseille has featured on the front page of every single sports publication in the country over recent weeks.

Both a fighter and an artist, the 23-year-old Ribery is being hailed as the new Zinedine Zidane and any French soccer fan will tell you he has to go to Germany.

The problem is the under-21 international has so far always been overlooked by national coach Domenech, who does not like being told what he should do.

Among others anxiously waiting for tomorrow's announcement is Arsenal's Robert Pires, who won the last of his 79 caps for France in October 2004.

The 32-year-old has enjoyed a good season for Arsenal, who will face Barcelona in the Champions League final on Wednesday in Paris, but he has had a difficult relationship with Domenech since publicly criticising the coach's tactics.

A safer bet to join Zinedine Zidane, Claude Makelele, Patrick Vieira and company in France's midfield is Barcelona winger Ludovic Giuly, the perfect player to bring on when speed and creativity are needed to decide a game.

Defence is not a concern for Domenech who has a mixture of experience and youth to choose from with Lilian Thuram, William Gallas, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Willy Sagnol and Eric Abidal all certain to win their ticket to Germany.