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Life without Zidane France will work harder to compensate, says LemerreSEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- France coach Roger Lemerre on Thursday said the loss of injured star Zinedine Zidane weakened the defending World Champions but will push them to work harder in Friday's World Cup opener against Senegal. "Without Zidane the team is sometimes in difficulty," Lemerre said. "The 11 players will be more concentrated. The concentration will be multiplied by 11. "What you lose in some ways you gain in others," he said. When asked who would take the place of the Real Madrid midfielder, who tore a thigh muscle in Sunday's friendly against South Korea, Lemerre answered: "There's no replacement for Zidane." France skipper Marcel Desailly also played down the importance of Zidane's absence. "There's life after Zidane," the Chelsea defender said. "It's better to have him with us. But we did it without him in 1998." At the last World Cup, Zidane was suspended for two matches, both of which France won. "He's really important, but we are going to give our best to compensate for the fact that he's not in the squad," Desailly said. Besides missing France's first match, Zidane is also uncertain for the remaining first-round games against Uruguay and Denmark. Veteran midfielder Youri Djorkaeff is expected to take Zidane's place against Senegal at Seoul's World Cup stadium. The 34-year-old spent most of the season on the bench before moving from Kaiserslautern to English struggler Bolton in March. Desailly said the French team needed to try harder against Senegal after a recent series of shoddy friendly matches. It was beaten 2-1 by Belgium 12 days ago and struggled to beat South Korea 3-2 last weekend. "The team needs to drive itself hard, and play at 100 percent of its capacity," Desailly said. "We should pay more attention on corners and free kicks." South Korea's second goal was a header scored on a free kick taken from near the area. France is seeking to become the first country ever to win two World Cups after taking a European Championship title in between. "Records are made to be broken," Desailly said. "We are going to try. We have the coach, the squad and the supporters. "But it's too far for us to think about winning the World Cup. The concentration must be only on the first games." France was to train at a field close to its hotel on the eastern edge of Seoul on Thursday, instead of at the World Cup stadium as initially planned. Players and staff were put off by the prospect of lengthy traffic jams. Desailly said the change of plans wouldn't be a disadvantage for the French. "We haven't just begun in the profession," he said. "On the day of the match we'll check out the height of the grass (at the stadium) and choose which studs to wear."
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