It is the summer of 1998 and France is gripped by a mixture of fear and disbelief. Their team might win the World Cup, their own World Cup, but they dare not believe too much. “ Ne panique pas,” screams the headline in L’Equipe above a daunting picture of the Italian centre-forward, Christian Vieri, on the morning of the quarter-final. But players such as the masterful Zidane and the striding Desailly, little Djorkaeff and mighty Thuram do not panic, and the country, divided in its sporting allegiances as in almost everything else, draws a very Gallic strength from their confidence. This is a different French team reflecting a new France.

In central Paris, as in every other city, ambition sweeps the streets. Anything is possible now if Zinedine Zidane, of Algerian descent; and Youri Djorkaeff, with his Armenian and Asian roots; and the Ghanaian-born Marcel Desailly; and Lilian Thuram, born in Guadeloupe, can become French heroes.

“It was a beautiful summer,” Lassana Diarra recalls. “I was on holiday and I was still young, maybe 12 or 13. Zidane, Desailly, they win the World Cup and everyone in the streets, in the country, was happy. I had no great hero, just the team. Then you think, ‘Maybe I can do the same’. Two months later, I went to Nantes.”

That was just the beginning of Diarra’s journey through football. At Nantes, they told him he would never make a proper footballer – too short, too small, not quick enough. At Le Mans, they refused to play him for two years, so he went back to school and did not kick a ball for 18 months. But, at Le Havre, echoing another Portuguese coach who showed belief, he found Francois Rodriguez, who did not mind about stature but looked only at Diarra’s energy and will. Within a year, Diarra was an under21 international. “Francois helped me a lot, like Jose Mourinho at Chelsea,” Diarra says. “I always give my best if the manager likes me.”

Diarra, now 22 and donning the bright blue shirt of Portsmouth, is a child of 1998. He is a product not of the French football academy at Clarefontaine, where an extraordinary generation of football talent was nurtured, but of an old-fashioned finishing school of street and lower league. The son of Malian parents, he was brought up in Paris with his four sisters and three brothers and played for Paris FC, who numbered Ibrahim Ba and Khalilou Fadiga among their old boys. “It was central Paris,” he says, laughing, “but not a very beautiful part.”

Diarra’s ambition to play for his country has not dimmed in the past decade. It has burnt so brightly that he rejected the overtures of Arsène Wenger to stay at Arsenal and moved to the south coast, where the locals can hardly believe their luck. A France regular, a player on the way up, not the way down, gracing the Pompey lineup for a fifth-round FA Cup-tie today at Preston? Harry Redknapp smiles at his own audacity.

“He’s been different class for us,” the Portsmouth manager says. “Since he walked in the building, he’s lit the place up.” And Redknapp is off. Talking about last week in training, when Diarra’s skill reduced his well-seasoned defence to statues, about Hermann Hreidarsson and what his fellow Icelander Eidur Gudjohnsen used to say about Diarra at Chelsea, and what Avram Grant said about his tireless performance against Chelsea at Fratton Park a couple of Saturdays ago. “City wanted him, Villa, Newcastle, Arsenal wanted to keep him, but he said he wanted to play,” Redknapp says. “I love good players and he’s one of the best I’ve worked with.”

Redknapp has kept his promise, not just by pitching his £6m recruit straight into a side starting to feel its age, but by letting him down gently when Diarra suggested to a French newspaper that he might only be passing through. Diarra, who is aware of the sensitivities of English fans, says he was misquoted, but Redknapp had it right. Of course, he said, a player as good as Diarra would want to play for Barcelona, Milan or Real Madrid. But, right now, in no particular order, he wants to keep his place in the national team for the European Championship, put himself in the shop window and help Portsmouth qualify for Europe. So while the ambitions of player and club coincide so neatly, just enjoy the moment.

Sitting in the unpretentious canteen at Portsmouth’s rented training ground, a far cry from the plush modernity of Arsenal or Chelsea, he betrays no hint of arrogance or impermanence.

The surroundings remind him of his roots at Le Havre, where facilities were sparse but the belief of his coaches was strong. The rationale behind his lack of opportunity at Arsenal needs no explanation, least of all to the player. The energy and aggression of his recent performances, though, reflect months of pent-up frustration and a hint of anger.

“I can say nothing against Arsène Wenger or Arsenal,” he says. “They are top of the league, but I just wanted to play. The manager said he would prefer to keep me, but I said ‘no’. I had no problem with him. My dad said to me, ‘You have to play’, and a very close friend of mine, who is not in football, said the same thing. It’s not easy when you are on the bench all the time. You have to fight. I have to play every week, I can’t just play 20 minutes or cup games, no, I’m not 18 or 19 any more. That’s why I’m here. It’s not especially for my country, it’s for me.”

Victories over Derby and Bolton and a romping home draw with Chelsea have lifted Portsmouth’s morale at a critical stage of the season and banished the symptoms of malaise that slipped through the team at a similar stage a year ago. The arrival of Jermain Defoe, Milan Baros and Diarra has transformed expectations once more, and with the return of the African brigade – Sulley Muntari, John Utaka, Kanu and Papa Bouba Diop – Portsmouth are formidably equipped to mount a twin challenge for Europe and the FA Cup, which has never been Redknapp’s happiest hunting ground.

“Portsmouth are a big team. Why not?” asks Diarra. “We have good players here, and though the objectives are different from Arsenal and Chelsea, we will try to go into Europe and do something good. It’s not a problem for me. Maybe one day I will go back to a team like Chelsea, but I don’t want to think about that. They make me very comfortable here, so I will never forget this.” The feeling at Fratton Park is entirely mutual.

Wandering star: where next for Diarra?

Lassana Diarra is only 22 and he is already playing for his fourth professional club. But far from being a fly-by-night, his wanderlust is driven by a determination not to accept the limitations imposed upon him by others. Never content to merely warm the bench and draw a fat salary, he wants to play. He wants to win. That’s why he left fi rst Chelsea, far right, where he played 13 times in two years, and then Arsenal, after making just seven appearance in half a season since signing last summer. He upset a few people after his £6m move to Portsmouth in last month’s transfer window by suggesting that he sees the club as a stepping stone to bigger and better things, but Pompey manager Harry Redknapp regards the defensive midfi elder as an ‘amazing signing for us. You don’t play for France in nine of their last 10 games without being a top player.’ If Diarra does eventually head for one of the top European clubs, we can’t say we weren’t warned. Then again, if he prospers at Pompey, who knows, he might stick around...

DIARRA’S TRAVELS
Club App* (goals)

2003-05 Le Havre (no fee) 25 (0)
2005-07 Chelsea (£1m) 17 (0)
2007-08 Arsenal (£2m) 7 (0)
2008- Portsmouth (£6m) 5 (2)
*not including substitute appearances Inside track

Inside Track

— The two sides have met three times in the FA Cup, with Pompey winning twice and Preston once – 3-1 in the last meeting in 1948

— The last team from outside the Premier League to knock Portsmouth out of the FA Cup were Orient in the third round in 2002

— Preston are 21st in the Championship, a point outside the relegation zone. Portsmouth lie eighth in the Premier League

TV match
Preston v Portsmouth
Today, Sky Sports 1, 3.30pm, kick-off 4pm