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France wait on Zidane

Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez at full stretch during training in Ibusuki

IBUSUKI, Japan -- France are acclimatising in Japan without their star, Zinedine Zidane.

The midfielder is due to join the squad on Wednesday after attending the birth of his third son, Theo, on Saturday.

Zidane, whose two goals helped sink Brazil in the 1998 final, was the match winner for Real Madrid in last Wednesday's European Champions League final. But he missed France's 2-1 home defeat to Belgium on Saturday to be with his wife Veronique in Marseille.

The French squad is staying in the resort of Ibusuki ahead of the opening game of the World Cup finals against Senegal on May 31.

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"We are very impatient to have our 23rd man with us," France coach Roger Lemerre told a news conference on Tuesday. "You can't overlook the absence of such a player like Zidane. Not having him with the squad has made things much more tricky."

"We are getting closer to the World Cup but we can't say we are exactly into it yet. We are going to really enter the event only once we have everybody here."

Striker Djibrill Cisse added: "We are very keen to have the whole squad together."

Lemerre is also monitoring the fitness of striker Thierry Henry, who has had problems with his knee.

France are due to stay in Ibusuki until Saturday before going to South Korea to face the co-hosts in their final warm-up match on May 26.