While Zinedine Zidane and several of his compeers have announced to retire after the Germany tournament, it would be their last opportunity to ignite the Les Bleus with achievement that could match the 1998 World Cup glory when they took Brazil apart 3-0 in a sensational final on home soil.

But they have to first overcome Switzerland, their toughest opponents in a group that also features South Korea and Togo, as well as the specter from 2002, when they were shocked by Senegal in their World Cup opener and then ousted in the first round without winning a match or scoring a goal.

"I don't want to compare this team to 2002 and 2004. That just gives me a headache," said Zidane recently. "I am thinking only about the future and we are heading into a great competition.

"It's very important that we are actually entering into the competition now and that gives me a lot of confidence. We know we are facing a difficult match against a team that wants to win just as much as we do. We will simply try and play well and win the match."

Often playing in the shadows of their Italian, German and French neighbors, the Swiss have been widely tipped as a potential surprise package in the 2006 tournament.

Their chances against France are boosted by the fact that they twice held Raymond Domenech's men during the qualifiers.

But Swiss coach Kuhn was seeking to play down the expectations surrounding his team.

"We will always be a small footballing nation," he told a media conference after facing repeated questions about his team's potential against France.

"It won't be easy for us," Kuhn concluded. "France have some outstanding players and are the clear favorites in our group. It would be a great achievement if we took a point from the match."

"If we are a bit more confident this time around it is because we have worked hard on our youth development and now have a young, hungry side that wants to show something."

However, that's just an advantage which the French would be envious of. With many of their leading lights now reaching the latter stages of their careers, France have been struggling for consistency subsequent to capturing the two biggest prizes on the international stage in 1998 and 2000 respectively.

Wizard-like Zidane, set to turn thirty four on June 23, was far from impressing in the French's pre-tournament warm-up against China in which he missed a penalty after slipping before kicking the ball.

But "Zizou" is convinced he and his French team-mates can turn the clock back to 1998 as they prepare to face the Swiss. And he is keen that not too much attention should be placed on the France World Cup veterans - the other five are Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry, Fabien Barthez, David Trezeguet and Patrick Vieira.

"This is not about Zidane and Thuram but it's about the other players too," said Zidane.

Domenech's team buildup had gone smooth until Djibril Cisse broke a leg also in the Chinese friendly and was ruled out of the tournament.

Lyon forward Sidney Govou has been drafted into the squad, but another headache remains for Domenech when he has to choose from his two best strikers David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry since the two do not compliment each other in the front.