Jonathan Zebina was very nearly the forgotten man of French football until a certain Juventus signed up his services in 2004, where an Italian championship alongside compatriots David Trezeguet and Lillian Thuram, catapulted him back into the French football mindset.

Oddly enough the teenage Zebina always seemed destined to where the famous blue top of his national team.

He grew up playing football alongside Thierry Henry at suburban Parisian team Palaiseau before being snapped up by France’s premier youth academy Cannes, who produced the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira.

Yet after two seasons with Cannes’ first team, Zebina somehow how got his career path all mixed up and headed to Cagliari to realise a personal dream of playing in Serie A.

He may not have entirely dropped off the radar of consecutive France Coaches Roger Lemerre and Jacques Santini, but Zebina rarely made the news back home. When he did, it was often for the wrong reasons: Too many red cards, a car crash in his Ferrari, a fight with the Coach…

While only the negative exploits seemed to filter back across the Alps, in Italy Zebina's football was doing the talking.

A move to sleeping giants AS Roma in 2000 was followed by a Scudetto winners’ medal a year later after he displaced Brazilian legend Aldair on the ride side of the capital club’s three-man central defence.

Zebina was just 23-years of age when he won Italy’s top prize, but despite talk, rumours and shortlists, he would have to wait another three years before pulling on a France shirt under Coach Raymond Domenech.

The player has no doubt to what he owes his belated success.

“Juventus is one of the top five clubs in Europe,” he said on the eve of his first cap. “I knew moving there that I would be considered differently to when I was at Roma.

“For a long time I felt like a great actor that would one day, eventually be rewarded with an Oscar for all his hard work.

“Juve is what I needed at that point in my career. Now when I have a good match, everyone knows it.”

Jonathan Zebina’s performances on the right-side of Juventus’ defence for alongside Lillian Thuram were exceptional in the 2004-05 season. His willingness to get forward and support his attackers as well as his good positional sense acquired during his four seasons in the middle at Roma finally saw him earn his first cap against Sweden in a friendly 1-1 draw at the Stade de France in January.

Unfortunately, a series of niggling injuries has since hampered his progress within the national team ranks and his counter has stalled at just the one match.

He was again forced to pull out of the squad on the eve of France’s crucial World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland and Cyprus having already missed out on the side’s 1-0 win over the republic of Ireland.