France's Secret Weapon vs. Switzerland's Secret Recipe

Swiss coach Kobi Kuhn said Monday he's got a secret recipe to spike 1998 World Cup winners France when they meet on Tuesday in their opening World Cup tie.

"It's up to us to come up with the recipe, but you don't think I'm going to divulge it in front of all of you do you?" he said during the traditional eve of match press conference on Monday.

The wily silver haired 62-year old did reveal that he'd got his team to watch tapes of the last two encounters -- both draws -- between the neighbors when they were paired together in the same World Cup qualifier group.

"I believe it'll be pretty much the same kind of game as the last two," Kuhn said. "The France team has only changed a little, but with one significant change and that's Thierry Henry, who wasn't around for the last games."

Youngest team

Switzerland are the third youngest outfit in the competition, but Kuhn dismissed fears that inexperience may play a role against World Cup veterans France.

"Yes, my team are young, but they're a young side that have a lot of experience playing club football at Arsenal, Leverkusen, Lazio," he said. "They play alongside the greatest footballers in Europe and have gained a lot of experience."

France's secret weapon

France meanwhile look set to turn to their "secret weapon" -- Marseille midfielder Franck Ribery -- to inject new ideas into their attack.

French newspaper L'Equipe reported that Ribery would replace the out-of-form David Trezeguet as coach Raymond Domenech rips up his tactics book. Ribery, in just his fourth international appearance, would play alongside Zinedine Zidane and Sylvain Wiltord in a midfield designed to supply sole striker Thierry Henry, as the 1998 winners seek to bury the nightmare of their 2002 campaign when the team was knocked out during the group stage without scoring a single goal.

Midfield veteran Claude Makelele has been impressed by the young tyro.

"Frank is the sort of player who can bring a lot to a team in 15 or 20 minutes," he said.

Zidane's successor?

Ribery only made his debut as a substitute in France's friendly against Mexico late last month and received a standing ovation from the 80,000 Stade de France crowd. The warm-up game against China last week will be remembered for Djibril Cisse's broken leg, but Ribery came off the bench to give the French attack new urgency and helped them to a 3-1 win.

Calls for Ribery's deployment also come as French soccer superstar Zinedine Zidane, who is 34 and plans to end his career after the World Cup, is no longer seen as the team's savior after his less than stellar performance during the preparation phase.