The 33-year-old 71-times capped 'keeper admitted to L'Equipe that he had thought about retiring after several of his friends like Zinedine Zidane called it a day following the Euro 2004 quarter-final defeat by eventual winners Greece.

"When I went up to Brittany for the friendly match with Bosnia (a 1-1 draw in new coach Raymond Domenech's debut) I was not in a good frame of mind atall," said the Marseille star, who has been ruled out of the 1998 World Cup winners opening two qualifiers with Israel and the Faroe Islands.

"I went there to observe and the changes were brutal.

"I wasn't in my element and for three days there was nothing but new things happening.

"Yes I was shocked and yes I arrived there with a negative attitude.

"It has to be said there was nothing but bad news this summer with the retirements of Zizou (Zidane) and Tutu (Lilian Thuram) also the press conference where I was captain for the evening while Patrick Vieira was the real skipper wearing the armband wasn't my cup of tea either.

"However while most people thought I would retire after the match, indeed I did think about it, I decided to spend a bit more time to reflect on it," added Barthez, who won the 1993 European Cup in his first spell with Marseille.

Barthez, who rejoined Marseille from Manchester United last season and ended up reaching the UEFA Cup final where he was sent off, said a piece of advice from his father paid off.

"My father always said the night brings better counsel.

"I thought about it long and hard and I decided that why should I ruin the forthcoming years when at 33 I felt in great form.

"Once I rediscovered my little room at Clairefontaine (the team's training camp) with all my little things that gave me such joy that it convinced me I should stay on.

"My attachment to the French team rises above anything else."

Aside from Barthez the only remaining members of the World Cup winning side still in contention for selection are David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Vieira.