French centurions set to be honoured
Thursday, February 12, 2015
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UEFA's ceremonial cap for centurions will be presented to five of the six French players to have reached the mark ahead of Les Bleus' friendly with Brazil on 26 March.
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Five of the six French players with more than 100 caps to their name are set to be honoured ahead of Les Bleus' 26 March friendly against Brazil at the Stade de France.
All those set to be celebrated are from the golden generation which won the 1998 FIFA World Cup on home soil before going on to triumph at UEFA EURO 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Current France coach – 103-time capped Didier Deschamps – will host a lunch during the day, according to the France Football Federation (FFF), with the guests including Thierry Henry (123 caps), Marcel Desailly (116), Zinédine Zidane (108) and Patrick Vieira (107).
On the evening of the game – against the nation defeated 3-0 in the 1998 final – a ceremony will take place on the pitch to honour the quintet. All five will receive the specially designed cap presented by UEFA to European players who have reached the three-figure milestone.
France's record appearance maker with 142 caps, Lilian Thuram, is the only one of the country's centurions who will not be present on the evening due to another engagement, but he will be honoured on 7 June ahead of the game against Belgium.
