Didier Deschamps is likely to mark his 100th cap tomorrow in the same uneffusive way that he plays.

	Deschamps: 100 caps (ChrisLobina/Allsport)

A silent bow as he leaves the pitch after France's semi-final with Portugal is the most that can be expected from the Chelsea star - the first Frenchman to reach the landmark.

Stung by comments that Patrick Vieira would do a better job in France's midfield, and Michel Platini's suggestion that he could never be a great player, the 31-year-old captain has simply refused to talk to the media at all.

But Deschamps has always been a players' player rather than a public idol. On the pitch he leaves the spectacular to the flair players and concentrates on tackling, covering and sweeping up.

But his team-mates are less reticent about the player who made his debut in April 1989.

'He is an example for all the other players,' said Zinedine Zidane. 'He has put his stamp on French football. He has always given his utmost to the team.'

Although Deschamps has never been praised for outstanding skill, he runs for every ball and is at the root of many of France's more fluent attacking moves.

'He's the kind of player you hardly notice but he's vital to us, perhaps more than any striker,' said front-man Christophe Dugarry.

Discreet off the pitch, Deschamps has always been a natural leader on it. Indeed all four French coaches he has played under have given him the captain's armband.