France coach Raymond Domenech believes William Gallas will recover from his calf injury to play at the World Cup and is relieved the defender escaped serious injury Sunday after crashing a buggy during a team-bonding exercise.

Gallas trained with the rest of the squad early on Sunday at the French Alpine resort of Tignes, but later rolled his dune buggy on to its side during some down time and received minor scratches to his left hand after sticking out an arm to break the impact.

Before the accident, Domenech said he was considering whether to play Gallas against Costa Rica in a friendly in Lens on Wednesday.

"It is hard to say whether he has fully recovered. But from what I've seen him do here so far, we can be optimistic," Domenech said on French television show Telefoot before the crash. "But it is a calf injury and you never know what can happen... We still have four training sessions left to see how he is."

Gallas missed the last few weeks of the Premier League season after being injured while playing for Arsenal against Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals, a match he played despite not being fully fit.

Gallas is his country's most experienced central defender, having played 78 internationals, including when France lost to Italy in a penalty shootout at the 2006 World Cup final.

"William is the man in our defence, we need him," said France and Arsenal teammate Gael Clichy. "He is a strong person with a strong character. And if he has a chance to be at the World Cup, he will be there."

Clichy added that Gallas' ability to train at altitude with the team on Wednesday bodes well for his chances.

"I think if he could stand up to that, then it should be fine. William's a strong person and he won't give up just like that," Clichy said. "Touch wood... I hope he'll be there for the team."

Domenech hopes to have Gallas alongside Barcelona's Eric Abidal in central defence at the World Cup in a settled back four - a luxury France rarely had during its difficult World Cup qualifying campaign.

"We will see whether he should play from the start, come on at halftime, or play a bit of the match," Domenech said of the Costa Rica match.

Gallas scored the goal that took France through to the World Cup, when he tapped in from close range after Thierry Henry had used his hand to control the ball before passing to the defender in a World Cup playoff against Ireland in November.

France is in the same World Cup group as Uruguay, Mexico and host South Africa.

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