Djibril Cisse will return to Auxerre with France
tonight (@Getty Images)
Olympique de Marseille striker Djibril Cisse is thrilled
to be returning to his footballing roots as France take on Georgia at
the Abbe Deschamps Stadium tonight.
Auxerre prodigy
The 25-year-old started his career under legendary AJ Auxerre coach Guy
Roux - who returned to football with RC Lens yesterday - and is hoping
to get another chance to grace the pitch where it all began. "I have
only been back once since I left for Liverpool [FC in June 2004] and that
was for Guy Roux's testimonial but I have not played a competitive or
friendly game since. It will be a very special night for me as I have
tons of fond memories of that place."
Hard training
Cisse has plenty of reasons to remember Auxerre with fondness after spending
the first six seasons of his professional career at the club. "Auxerre
is the place I learnt to be a professional," he said. "I was
15 when I joined the academy. On the first day I visited the stadium -
wow! But a few minutes later I was in the countryside jogging - awful!
I had never imagined that you could have a training session without touching
the ball."
'Father and son'
Now, the Arles-born player is pleased he was made to toil under Roux.
"I learned everything here and intend to do my utmost to make a comeback
[against Georgia]," he said. "I have to thank Guy Roux for everything.
We're like father and son. He made me what I am today." Under Roux,
Cisse was Ligue 1's top scorer twice, with 22 goals in the 2001/02 campaign
and 26 in 2003/04. He also made the first of his 34 international appearances
while he was at Auxerre.
France beckons
Cisse suffered the second double fracture of his career in a FIFA World
Cup warm-up game on 7 July last year, and was loaned to Marseille in the
latter part of this season by Liverpool. After scoring eight times in
21 games to help his boyhood heroes return to the UEFA Champions League
next season, he is keen to make the move permanent. He said: "I belong
here but an agreement needs to be reached, but it would be no problem
at all for me to go back to Liverpool."
Good precedent
In the meantime, he will concentrate on his international career as he
looks to thrill the crowd at the Abbe Deschamps once more. The UEFA EURO
2008T Group B leaders certainly have reason to expect a good night for
strikers. In the only previous competitive international at the stadium
12 years ago, France beat Azerbaijan 10-0 in a EURO '96T qualifier.
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6 June 2007
Russian ladies dream about happy marriage.
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