Poor Djibril Cisse woke up this morning in a hospital bed no doubt haunted by a desperate sense of deja vu. The France striker underwent surgery on his right leg late on Thursday night after fracturing his tibia, horribly, during his country's final friendly against China before their departure for Germany.
It is not yet two years since Cisse suffered a similarly ugly - and career-threatening - injury to his left leg during a Premiership game with Blackburn. He has had his faults since arriving at Anfield, and his form has been as inconsistent as his tactical position in the team, but you wouldn't wish luck like this on anyone.
France reacted smartly today and called up Lyon's Sidney Govou as a replacement. The 26-year-old brings steady assurance rather than Cisse's explosive pace and unpredictability, and the Liverpool striker will certainly be missed. Raymond Domenech might have looked to bring in Nicolas Anelka if he was searching for a like-for-like replacement for Cisse, though the Fenerbahce striker has been so outspoken in his criticism of the France coach - not least since his controversial omission from the squad for Germany 2006 - that he was never likely to earn a reprieve at Lord Frodsham's expense.
So France will be less of a threat now than they might have been. Domenech's first-choice strike partnership was always likely to be Thierry Henry and Louis Saha - David Trezeguet has not looked the player he is with Juventus when playing for the national team recently - though Cisse was an impressive option to call upon from the bench. Govou will be reliable, efficient, and presumably well down the pecking order still.
In fact, Franck Ribery's continued excellence in the warm-up matches might yet force him into Domenech's thinking for a starting berth against Switzerland next week, though presumably not at Zinedine Zidane's expense.
Cisse received a telephone call of sympathy from Jacques Chirac this morning. The hope is that his career has not been cast into genuine jeopardy - he recovered after the horrendous injury at Ewood Park, and hopefully he will do the same now following Wednesday's misfortune.
See also: Paul Doyle: Five simple rules for fixing France's forthcoming fiasco
