Steed's 'au revoir' to France

Steed Malbranque is ready to give up on France and pledge his international allegiance to Belgium.

The talented Fulham midfielder has grown tired of waiting for his first senior cap after representing Les Bleus at every level from Under-15s to Under-21s.

Malbranque was born in Belgium, but moved to France as a four-year-old and grew up dreaming of playing for his adopted country.

He captained France's Under-18 team and was compared by national junior coaches to the mercurial Zinedine Zidane.

Consistently impressive Premiership performances for Fulham must have enhanced his chances of a senior call-up and he will be one of the main threats to West Ham in their FA Cup fifth-round tie at Loftus Road tomorrow.

But so far predictions of a bright future with France have proved misplaced and the skilful midfielder is starting to believe he has spent too many international tournaments on the sidelines.

Malbranque turned 24 last month and, despite rejecting the chance to play for Belgium 10 years ago, thinks that a recent change in FIFA laws may allow a switch back to his country of birth.

The world game's governing body deals with each case individually and he would have to prove dual nationality, but the popular Fulham player believes it could be his only chance of making it on to the world stage.

'It is very important for me and for my career to play international football,' he said. 'It can enhance your position in the game and everyone wants to be involved in the major tournaments and play on the world stage.

'I get frustrated because from the age of 14 I have played for France at every level, but I have not been able to break through into the senior squad.

'It is up to the coach how he makes his selections but there were periods recently when there were a lot of injuries and that would have been a good time for me to play for the full international team.

'Before this year I had my heart set on France and that is the way it has always been. It is still my dream but I have not been capped yet and was born in Belgium so maybe there is a chance I could play for them.

'I am thinking about it and maybe I am just waiting for Belgium to call.'

Malbranque is acutely aware that France coach Jacques Santini is not his greatest admirer after their time together at Lyon, the club who sold him to Fulham for £4.5million in 2001.

'I did not play much under Santini there and that was one of the reasons I left,' he said. 'There is not a problem with him but sometimes one coach likes a player and another doesn't.'

Santini's judgement, and France's embarrassment of playing riches, have already led to Tottenham striker Freddie Kanoute defecting to Mali.

FIFA's new rules mean they will allow individuals to change international allegiance if they have dual nationality and have never played for the senior side.

After this year, switches will be restricted to players under 21 years of age. But many of the changes so far have involved players dropping affiliations with France, and Malbranque could be next.

He wants to play at the 2006 World Cup and although he prefers a quiet life, is prepared to create a little controversy with his adopted country to further his career.

After all, it appears to be a time of opportunity for the player who has a goalscoring average of around one every four games from midfield for Fulham.

Following the sale of Louis Saha - who was called up himself for France yesterday - Malbranque has taken over the penaltytaking duties again and a greater share of the spotlight.

Tomorrow, Malbranque will move from the wing to the front of a midfield diamond as Chris Coleman switches from his trusted 4-5-1 formation.

The Fulham manager said: 'There is always pressure on Steed because he is a big player for us. Normally, when he plays well it rubs off on a lot of the others because he is such a great player. I am amazed he is not in the French squad.

'Maybe if he was playing for Juventus it would be different. He is definitely an international-class player.'

Fulham will be without captain Lee Clark (calf) while Facundo Sava is a doubt with a similar problem. Former West Ham defender Ian Pearce is Cup-tied.

Alain Goma will play despite a hamstring injury and Junichi Inamoto has delayed joining Japan for their international against Oman until after the game.

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