With the opening of football's World Cup in South Korea and Japan just four days away, it appears that defending champion France will begin the tournament without its biggest star.
Claude Simonet, the president of the French Football Federation said Monday that Zinedine Zidane is expected to miss the team's first two matches because of a thigh injury. Zidane was injured in France's 3-2 friendly match victory against tournament co-host South Korea on Sunday.
Zidane left the field during the first half and sat out the rest of the game with an ice pack on his thigh. The 1998 World Cup hero underwent tests on Monday, and though the results have not been released, Simonet said the consensus was that Zidane should sit out France's first two matches. That means he would miss Friday's tournament opener against Senegal and France's match against Uruguay on June 6. But he will probably be ready to play against Denmark on June 11.