Revered as one of the best defenders France has ever produced, Lillian Thuram returned from international retirement alongside Zinedine Zidane and Claude Makelele in August 2005 to write another page in his glorious association with Les Bleus.

A product of the National Football Academy at Clairefontaine, Thuram was quickly spotted by Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in 1990.

He imposed himself as a world-class right-back during six seasons in the principality and earned his first international cap in a 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic on August 17 1994 – a match remembered predominantly for the debut of another young prodigy called “Zizou” who would score both goals for Les Bleus!

In the summer of 1996 Thuram joined Italian side AC Parma where he would play for the next five seasons, being voted several times ‘Best Foreign Player in Serie A’.

In 1998, Thuram - who is France’s second-most capped player behind Marcel Desailly – began collecting silverware and he started in style with the Word Cup.

Les Bleus’ triumph was built on their miserly backline comprising of Thuram, Laurent Blanc, Desailly and Bixente Lizarazu, but it was Thuram and his two goals in the semi-final against Croatia that sees the Guadeloup-born defender command a special reverence amongst fans of Les Bleus.

In 1999 he added the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia to his burgeoning trophy cabinet and a year later he was a member of the first side ever to hold concurrent World and European titles when France defeated Italy 2-1 in Amsterdam.

Yet for this fan of the Italian game, the absence of Lo Scudetto saw Thuram quit Parma in 2001, destination Juventus.

Back-to-back championships duly followed in 2002 and 2003.

If France’s disastrous 2002 World Cup campaign was hard on Thuram, the 2004 European championships was, on a personal level, worse.

After a difficult season in Italy with the Bianconeri, Thuram and Desailly came in for particularly harsh criticism following Les Bleus’ quarter-final defeat to Greece. In the wake of that defeat Thuram, now 32, quit the national team to concentrate on returning Juve to the top rung of calcio.

Many observers believe the 2004-05 season was Thuram’s best in Italy. He played 37 of 38 League matches and showed, despite his aging legs, that he still possessed the timing and anticipation to play at the highest level.

With France struggling to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, Thuram answered the call of a nation and returned to the fold. His very presence alongside Jean-Alain Boumsong in the centre of the defence returned a certain serenity to the backline and his performance in the crucial 1-0 over Ireland was vintage Thuram.