Zidane to be more of a leader for France

France playmaker Zinedine Zidane has promised to assume more of a leader's role as the European champions struggle to get back to their best for their qualifiers against Slovenia and Malta this month.

The 30-year-old, who has captained France only once -- during the first half of a friendly in Tunisia in August, has always made it clear he was not interested in taking over from captain Marcel Desailly.

But with France struggling to do well he realises he must take added responsibility in a side that has come to rely on him more and more since he earned his first cap in August 1994.

"Since the start of my career, the only thing I wanted to do was play well on the pitch and nothing else," Zidane was quoted as saying by French newspaper Le Parisien on Monday.

"But it's now obvious that the more time goes by the more I'll have to behave like a leader both on and off the pitch."

Before their 2-1 win over Cyprus in the previous round of qualifiers last month, France had not won in the four matches following their World Cup humiliation, when they were the first defending champions to be knocked out in the first round for 36 years.

Zidane, who disappointed in the Cyprus match, appears back to his best following some strong performances for club side Real Madrid.

He scored twice in Real's 3-3 draw with AEK Athens in the Champions League last week and set the ball rolling with a classy goal in his club's 5-2 drubbing of Alaves in the Spanish league on Sunday.

"Didier (Deschamps) and Laurent (Blanc) have told me recently to make the first move on a more regular basis, to get things moving."

"But I have never been a natural born leader, so it's not when I'm 30 that it's going to change. If it must be done, it will, but slowly at my own pace," Zidane said. "Nobody is going to tell me what to do."

France will be hoping to earn all six points in their games at home to Slovenia on Saturday and away to Malta next Wednesday.

"We (the players) will be together for more than a week," Zidane said. "It can only be good. Sincerely, I'm expecting a lot from these next two games. They are what we badly need."