Away from the fanfare surrounding the international returns of Zinedine Zidane and co., an interesting subplot was unfolding in France Coach Raymond Domenech's squad to face the Ivory Coast in August 2005. The under-pressure tactician had been a fierce advocate of his young, Ligue 1-dominated teams back when he was struggling to replace the old guard, but he gave little indication of knowing who his best players were. Suddenly, with Zizou and Claude Makelele taking two prized midfield squad places, Domenech was forced to show his hand.

Paris Saint-Germain pair Jérôme Rothen and Vikash Dhorasoo made the cut as expected, but there was nothing at all predicatable about Lens midfielder Alou Diarra jumping the queue ahead of Benoît Pedretti and Rio Mavuba. Relatively unknown in his homeland – or anywhere else for that matter – the tall and athletic ball-winner has nonetheless had admirers from all over the continent since he began his career with Louhans-Cuiseaux in 1999-2000.

A mere three games later, the 18-year-old Diarra was scooped up out of Ligue 2 by Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. He didn't manage to get a game for Bayern in two years, but he shone for France at the World Youth Championship in 2001 and Liverpool boss Gérard Houllier brought him to Anfield on a five-year contract in 2002. Yet again, however, Diarra found himself away from the action as the Reds farmed him out on loan to Le Havre. A season later, they sent him to Bastia, and his prospects did not change when Rafael Benitez replaced Houllier in 2004. The Spaniard reaffirmed the club's faith in him as a long-term investment, but a third-straight loan deal was cobbled together with Lens.

Many players would have struggled with the enforced, nomadic lifestyle - and the feeling not so much of having been put on ice but cryogenically frozen. Diarra is not one of them, though. "Actually, my journey through so many different stages has given me lots of experience," he says. "It's helped me to be competitive, ready to rise to any challenge." It also taught him to appreciate loyalty, and when Lens fought to hold on to him at the end of the 2004-05 season, it was hard to say no. He had been a revelation at the Stade Félix-Bollaert, even captaining the side on five occasions, and after Liverpool's best attempts to lure him back fell on deaf ears, he signed a four-year deal with Les Sang et Or.

Diarra admits he had the World Cup on his mind as well: "Lens are the club that helped me become an international, so it was a logical choice. I'm definitely thinking about Germany and the France team has now become a real objective for me. I'm going to try and make myself a regular." That's quite a statement from someone who admitted to being as surprised as everyone else when Domenech called him up to his first France squad less than a year earlier: "I really didn't expect it, I thought I'd need at least a good year with my club first."

Mavuba got the nod ahead of him to face Bosnia on that occasion, but he didn't stray far from Domenech's mind and eventually made a solid debut as a substitute in the World Cup qualifier against Ireland in October 2004 – a game in which Mavuba suffered badly. By the time France travelled to Tel Aviv for another tense qualifier in March 2005, Diarra was in the first eleven and winning plaudits for his no-nonsense physical display.

"Domenech's the Coach who knows me the best, so I'm very pleased he gave me a chance," he adds, and it's true that he had been ever-present in the former Lyon boss's Under-21 side from 2001 onwards. In fact, Domenech has referred to him as "Vieira's twin" in the past, on account of his long legs and bursts of acceleration, and it is a comparison Diarra relishes. "Being likened to him isn't hard to live with at all, it's just flattering. Patrick's the best in the world in his position and I've learnt so much from just watching him in training. He's also given me good advise about controlling my anger, which is something I know I still need to improve."