Ribery ready to take over from Zidane

Hamelin: The first player to fall into Zinedine Zidane's arms after the France captain sealed a 3-1 win over Spain with a superb late goal was newcomer Franck Ribery.

The scene, uniting the player who has inspired France for the last decade with the one who might do so for the next, was highly symbolic.

The convincing win on Tuesday in Hanover means France are now in the World Cup quarter-finals and Zidane, who will retire after the tournament, has not played his last game yet.

Every match now, though, starting with Saturday's showdown with Brazil for a place in the last four, could be the 34-year-old maestro's last.

Ribery, by contrast, is just starting his career. The tireless midfielder with the unique dribbling skills had been overlooked by Raymond Domenech until the France coach included him in his World Cup squad last month.

Darling Ribery

The 23-year-old, clearly recognisable by a long scar running down his right cheek that he sustained in a car accident when he was two, has suddenly become everybody's darling.

"The way the public immediately adopted him is amazing," said striker Thierry Henry.

Ribery played his first full international in a 1-0 friendly win over Mexico last month on the day Zidane won his 100th cap and played his last game at the Stade de France, where he scored twice in a 3-0 win over Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final.

Since then, Ribery has won two more caps with sparkling performances as a substitute in warm-up games and another four at the finals.

On Tuesday he was a constant nuisance for Spain's defence with his darting runs and crowned an impressive display with his first goal for France, when he made it 1-1 just before halftime.

With just seven caps to his name compared with Zidane's 105, Ribery has everything to prove but Zizou acknowledges that the energetic Olympique Marseille player is special.

"He brings a lot to the team with his fresh attitude on an off the pitch," Zidane said of Ribery earlier in the tournament. "He's not afraid of anything and he's really good. I'm sure he will become somebody important in football."