Beware Pires

A late developer within the game, Pires is now massively influential for both club and country. The French 'musketeer', so called because of his striking resemblance to the romantic image of the swashbuckling d'Artagnan, represents the complete modern midfield player. An excellent combination of guile and graft with, crucially, the ability to cut inside and score goals.

A key member of the Arsenal side that made history by winning the 2003/04 championship without losing a game, Pires weighed in with fourteen league goals - coupled with four in Europe - to help lift the goalscoring burden from Thierry Henry.

Although he is not a playmaker in the same sense as the incomparable Zidane, his knowledge of the English game could well prove a decisive factor this evening. Much has been made of his relationship with Ashley Cole, the English left back and Pires' Arsenal teammate.

"When we reached the end of the season with Arsenal, we started to tease each other. Ashley said that if he had to play against me then I would be in his pocket, and he would get past me easily.

"It's all good fun, though, and very much tongue-in-cheek. We have a lot of respect for each other's games. You could say that France against England started weeks ago!"

His laid-back manner and talk of 'mutual respect' are typical of the team spirit and camaraderie that Arsene Wenger has fostered at Arsenal. But it has taken a long time for this player to feel so comfortable with his game.

Pires was a graduate of the FC Metz youth academy, making his senior debut in 1992. During six seasons at the Saint-Symphorien stadium, he scored over 40 goals, prompting a 7.5million move to Olympique de Marseille. At Marseille, the mercurial Frenchman was inconsistent, and a 9.8million switch to Arsenal followed in the summer of 2000.

Although it took him some time to adapt to the physical demands of the Premiership, gradually the Highbury faithful began to see the emergence of a real talent. He was Arsenal's outstanding performer as they won both the Premiership and FA Cup in 2001/02 - a watershed campaign for the player.

At international level, his presence became similarly influential. A World Cup winner on home soil in 1998, Pires created David Trezeguet's golden goal, which won the European Championships in 2000. It was, perhaps, no surprise that France faltered in World Cup 2002, where injury ruled Pires out of a tournament in which the defending champions were eliminated without winning a match or scoring a goal.

A disastrous 1-0 defeat by Senegal marked the start of that tournament and Pires is aware that France must not make the same mistake in their first match with England.

"It's very important we win our first match," says Pires

"England make very few mistakes and if we don't put them under pressure from the beginning, Ashley will be able to push up the pitch.

"I'll have to pin him down early" he adds, with a sly smile that may well prove to be the ruin of the three Lions.