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Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane to be honoured by France before friendly

Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane will be among a group of former France internationals honoured for having reached 100 caps for their country ahead of Les Bleus' friendly with Brazil next month.

Henry, who appeared 123 times for France, and Zidane, who won 108 caps, will be joined by Patrick Vieira (107) and Marcel Desailly (116) on the Stade de France pitch before kick-off on March 26.

Not only will they receive the ovation of the 80,000-strong capacity crowd, but they will also be given a special homage from the French Football Federation (FFF).

"We're going to honour all the players who have more than 100 international appearances," FFF president Noel Le Graet told reporters. "There will be a ceremony at the stadium before the game and they will go on the pitch."

France coach Didier Deschamps -- who played 103 times for Les Bleus and extended his contract this week -- will likely meet his former international teammates, who were all part of the squads that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, for lunch on the day of the game.

Lilian Thuram, who holds France's appearance record with 142 caps, will be honoured at a later date due to a commitment abroad on the day of the encounter with Brazil.

The move comes in the wake of a L'Equipe-inspired push for Henry, who announced his retirement from football late last year, to be allowed to play for France against the Selecao.

France's main sports daily argued that the former Arsenal man, who is the nation's all-time leading scorer, should be given an opportunity to end his international career in a more fitting manner than the inglorious 2010 World Cup campaign, during which he won the last of his caps.