France's striker Cisse out of World Cup

SAINT ETIENNE (France): France's World Cup hopes have suffered a cruel blow on the eve of their departure for Germany with the loss through injury of leading striker Djibril Cisse.

The Liverpool forward was forced out of Raymond Domenech's squad after undergoing surgery here on Wednesday on a right knee fracture picked up in the warm-up game against China.

Watched by a crowd of 40,000 including French President Jacques Chirac, Cisse, France's top goal scorer in qualifying, was cut down by China captain Zheng Zhi in the 10th minute.

The 24-year-old, who was set to team up with Thierry Henry for France's opening Group G game against Switzerland in Stuttgart on next Tuesday, was operated on at Saint-Etienne's CHU hospital.

The loss is a major setback for Les Bleus who suffered a similar fate preparing for their ill-fated 2002 World Cup campaign when Zinedine Zidane injured his left thigh in the last friendly against South Korea.

 But while the Real Madrid star was to eventually play a minor role in the 1998 champions' failed defence in Asia, Cisse's World Cup is over and he will be left behind when the team fly out to their base near Hannover.

Domenech has until Monday, the day before their 2006 campaign opens, to name a replacement.  "I'm going to take time to reflect on the situation," the French coach said.

The gravity of Cisse's injury was quickly evident from the concern shown by his teammates who rushed to his side when he fell to the ground.