Lens, France: Florent Malouda hopes to have the same kind of success with France in the World Cup that he enjoyed this season with English champion Chelsea.
Malouda's best ever season helped Chelsea win the Premier League and FA Cup League double. After a long spell out of the national team, the midfielder is firmly back in coach Raymond Domenech's plans for the World Cup in South Africa.
"When you have such a great season, where you've shared so much with the fans, you want to experience the same thing with the national team," Malouda said after France beat Costa Rica 2-1 Wednesday. "We don't want to go back to our clubs with our heads down. When you win titles with your club, you become more ambitious."
Reflecting on France's surprising run to the 2006 World Cup final, Malouda says "the fans were proud of us and we want to get that back" in South Africa.
That is going to be difficult after France barely qualified for the World Cup, knocking out Ireland in a tense playoff with a hotly disputed goal that disappointed French fans and even the politicians.
"It's all down to what we do on the pitch, the attitude we have, and above all the results," Malouda said. "There's a certain amount of responsibility when you play for the French team, but the players feel like they're ready to take up the challenge. The context wasn't easy before, but we've tried to change things."
Malouda's international career under Domenech looked to be finished when he criticized the team tactics after France's embarrassing European Championship performance two years ago — where the team crashed out in the group stages.
Domenech used Malouda as a defensive midfielder, and he was barely allowed to go over the halfway line. Despite the constraints imposed upon him, Malouda found himself heavily criticized by Domenech. He responded by hitting back with some choice complaints of his own.
Domenech subsequently dropped Malouda for seven of the 10 World Cup qualifiers.
Now, Domenech finally seems inclined to play to the team's attacking strengths rather than continuing the quest for defensive stability that proved so elusive.
He has switched to a 4-3-3 formation with Malouda on the left of midfield, Lyon's Jeremy Toulalan holding the center ground and Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff on the right.
Against Costa Rica, Domenech picked Manchester United's Patrice Evra just behind Malouda and Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery just ahead in a potentially scintillating left flank.
"What I like about the new system is that it's more attacking, I have more freedom and I'm not just a defensive midfielder like at Euro 2008," Malouda said. "I'm someone who enjoys responsibility. It was quite painful for me the last couple of years when I was on the (France) bench. I did my best to turn the situation around, and I'm very happy."
Malouda's versatility worked against him before, at least in an attacking sense, because he has sometimes had to play as a defensive midfielder and even briefly as a left back for Chelsea when Ashley Cole broke his ankle in February.
A flurry of goals toward the end of the 2008-09 season were an indication that Malouda's true talents had been overlooked.
This season he has burst into life in front of goal for Carlo Ancelotti's team, scoring 12 league goals and beating his highest league tally of 10 which he managed with former clubs Lyon and Guingamp.
"There was a spell this season where I played just behind the strikers. I felt free in a position that I liked," Malouda said. "I prefer to play higher up, but my versatility means that coaches like to put me (in several positions)."
Although Domenech is unlikely to give him the same freedom Ancelotti does, Malouda understands the bigger picture.
"It won't matter if I'm a world champion," he said.
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