Former French international Franck Ribery has been urged to make a return to international football by legend Zinedine Zidane, who says that a player at the peak of his powers should not consider turning his back on the international team.

The Bayern Munich winger announced his retirement from international football after the World Cup. He was set to take part in the competition before a late injury forced him to withdraw. Ribery’s time with the national team has been met with numerous off the field incidents that have damaged the reputation of the national team.

Despite this, Zidane has quoted the example of his own career. The former Real Madrid superstar also announced his retirement prematurely before coming back to inspire France reach the finals of the World Cup 2014. At just 31 years old, Ribery is still at the top of his game and continues to be an important part of the Bayern Munich team. However, he has suffered several injury troubles in recent years and this would have been one of the reasons for his early retirement. His retirement has also sparked a war of words with UEFA president Michel Platini, who has threatened to suspend Ribery from club matches if he does not play for France.

“When you have a talented player like Ribery with so much quality, it would be good to see him back in the team. I also retired from international football back in 2004, but I simply couldn't live with it in the six months that followed. When you play at the highest level and enjoy playing matches, you want to grab each opportunity to play. I could no longer sit still and do nothing for three to four days when my team-mates were away on international duty,” said the current Real Madrid ‘B’ team coach.