Zizou - A Muslim cure for French malaise

Zinedine Zidane

France is on fire again. But this time it is not angry youths rioting and torching cars in protest against an out-of-touch political elite. 

The city streets and migrant suburbs are burning with pride and hope that Zinedine Zidane, the ageing maestro of French soccer, will drag the country out of the spiritual, social and economic doldrums with a win at the World Cup final tomorrow night, local time. 

After more than a year of suburban unrest, riots, student protests, political scandals and depressing economic news, the stunning performance of Les Bleus in Germany is driving a wave of national optimism not seen in France since 1998. 

Eight years ago a younger "Zizou", sporting almost a full head of hair, thrillingly united the country around his diverse team of "black, blanc, beur (black, white and Arab)" players when France enjoyed its first World Cup win. 

The dream of a harmonious multi-racial "France that wins" seemed a reality as the band of players, many drawn from the former colonies, delivered a glorious 3-0 win over Brazil. 

But the promise of that glorious World Cup evaporated in 2002 when far right National Front demagogue Jean-Marie Le Pen - still a critic of the current colourful French soccer team for "not representing modern France" - almost won the first-round presidential election. 

In the same year, Les Bleus suffered the humiliation of exiting the World Cup in the first round without winning a match or scoring a goal. From then on, France's tag as the dinosaur of "Old Europe" clung even to the beloved team. 

After defeating Le Pen, Jacques Chirac squandered his mandate, presiding over a dramatic economic downturn, the resounding French rejection of an enlarged Europe and since late last year a wave of social unrest unseen since the student protests of May 1968. 

But that has changed since coach Raymond Domenech's "old men", comprising experienced champions like Zidane, who came out of international retirement to help France qualify for the finals, and Lilian Thuram, who will retire on Sunday, surprised fans and competitors alike with their resurgence following a disappointing start. 

In a country for too long bereft of national heroes, Zidane is once again the focus of dormant French patriotism. 

"Zidane for president" is a common cry on the streets and every day the newspapers are filled with hymns of praise for France's most popular man. 

"Zizou", the adored 34-year-old French captain who grew up in Marseilles, the son of Algerian migrants, is sanctified in the press, on the airwaves and in the corridors of political and commercial power. 

"A magician, a genius, a star admired on every continent," Le Parisien gushed this week. 

Even Finance Minister Thierry Breton acknowledged Zidane's powers. 

"He is a real leader," Breton said this week before pointing out that sport plays an important role in the national economy. 

The extraordinary spontaneous outpouring of public jubilation from Paris to Lyon and Marseilles following France's win over Spain in the quarter-final followed by Portugal this week led to 500,000 fans, many of them draped in the French flag, lining the Champs Elysees. 

The real business begins Sunday evening, French time, when the country will stop to chant the Les Bleus motto that is fast becoming the new national anthem - "We live together, we die together" - and all centred on what one newspaper crowned "The Fabulous Destiny of Zinedine Zidane".