Micoud gained 17 caps for France, and represented the nation at Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, winning the former tournament.

Although Micoud and Parma won the Coppa Italia, he lost his starting place to Hidetoshi Nakata, and was forced out of the club, linked with moves to Aston Villa, Liverpool, Schalke 04 and Marseille.

[15] After the season, Micoud signed a new contract with Bremen until 2007, and was described by the club's sporting director Klaus Allofs as 'the best midfielder in the Bundesliga'.

[16] It had previously been speculated that Micoud could leave, as he criticised the club for allowing two other key players in Aílton and Mladen Krstajić to join Schalke.

[18] In his final season with Bremen, Micoud scored five times in the Champions League, including winners against Udinese in the group stage and Juventus in the knockouts.

[28] Despite being called up in the France national team on several occasions, Micoud never managed to secure a regular starting role, mainly due to the presence of Zidane who occupied the same position.

[5] Courtesy of his stellar championship performances with Bordeaux, he made his debut on 17 August 1999 in a friendly match with Northern Ireland, and was subsequently picked for the squad which won UEFA Euro 2000.

After the World Cup, he was not picked for France again for two years, before Jacques Santini selected him for a friendly against Holland in March 2004, recognising Micoud's form with Bremen.