A French football fairy tale - from dustman to international call-up (with update - see end)

Here's a heart warming story from the usually mega-bucks world of football - or soccer if you like - all about a player who against the odds, and late in the day, has been given the chance of making his first appearance for his country.

Steve Savidan, now 30, who has spent much of his career playing in the lower ranks of French football, has been called up to the national squad to face Uruguay in an international friendly at Stade de France in Paris on Wednesday evening.

Steve ..... who? - even the most fervent of football followers out there might be asking - and you might be well entitled to.

"Slow starter" and "late bloomer" would be two apt descriptions for a footballer who has spent much of his career playing for sides in this country's lower divisions and whose story could be plucked straight from the pages of a boys own magazine.

After two spells at four different clubs and a season in which he didn't even find the back of the net, Savidan found himself as recently as 2004 at lowly Angoulême, and his prospects looked less than promising.

The (third division) club still had amateur status, so to make ends meet, Savidan was forced to look elsewhere for work.

"I only earned FF3,000 (around €460) a month, and my wife worked at the local Quick (fast food restaurant)," he says of his time at the club.

"We couldn't really make ends meet, so when I wasn't training I also held down some day jobs. For a couple of months I was a dustman, and I also worked in a bar."

Squeezing in work with training didn't seem to harm Savidan's performance on the pitch, but after scoring 12 goals during the season, he was on the move again - this time to another third division side, Valenciennes.

And that's pretty much where the "click" occurred, professionally speaking.

In successive seasons, Valenciennes climbed from the third to the second and then in 2006 back into the elite first division for the first time in 13 years, where they've remained ever since.

During his four-year spell at the club, Savidan "bloomed" scoring 61 goals in 141 first team appearances, and at the beginning of this season was signed by fellow division one side, Caen.

Again that's hardly a team that has set the French footballing world alight, and certainly not one with the record, tradition or financial resources of the country's better-known clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique de Marseille or Olympique Lyonnais.

The team currently sits mid-table.

But in just 11 matches so far this season, Savidan has notched up seven goals, just two fewer than the fully fledged French international from Olympique Lyon and the league's leading scorer, Karim Benzema.

It's that sort of consistent performance that has made the French national coach, Raymond Domenech, sit up and take notice, and in his hunt to find a side capable of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, the manager has put together a squad which in his own words "includes players who haven't yet been given the chance to play for their country but over the weeks, months or even years have earned the chance to show what they can do."

Savidan certainly has the sort of track record that as far as Domenech is concerned, warrants at least his inclusion in the squad.

"If you look at how he has performed this season, there are some interesting signs," the manager said at a press conference last week when he announced the 23-strong squad.

"We won't know unless we try - afterwards we'll see how it goes," he added.

But Domenech also stressed that Savidan isn't guaranteed to take to the pitch, and now has to prove he's up to the job of being included in the team - a fact of which the 30-year-old is more than aware.

"It's not a reward in itself but a result of my performance over the years," he said.

"I'm part of a group of 23 players, and now I need to prove that I can adapt and fit in," he added.

Even if Savidan never makes it off the bench during the 90 minutes, his inclusion in the squad isn't bad going for a player, who just a few years ago was "moonlighting" as a dustman.

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Update - November 20, 2008

The match probably wasn't one to remember - certainly not for the fans - ending in a glorious 0-0 draw. Or as commentators said the following day "not a game whose memory will be engraved in marble for years to come."

Apart that is from the second half substitution of Steve Savidan. Yes that's right, he made it off the bench and on to the pitch to win his first international cap (on his very first call up) at the grand old age (for a footballer) of 30.

Savidan managed to breathe some life and interest into an otherwise poor team performance, with a couple of shots on target and a spectacular scissor kick in the 62nd minute.

But even his efforts weren't enough, although at least - as Thursday's papers pointed out - France managed not to lose.

Speaking after the match with a huge smile on his face and a clutch of journalists' microphones in his hands, Savidan looked deservedly pleased and proud of himself, and you could hear how much he relished the occasion and being able to say "We played at the Stade de France (the national stadium) and ended up with a draw."