France national team boss, Laurent Blanc has not named Gael Clichy, Guillaume Hoarau and Bacary Sagna in France’s 23-man squad that will play against Mesut Ozil and co in an international friendly against Germany
On Thursday afternoon, at the Hippodrome d’Auteuil, France national team manager, Laurent Blanc announced his final list of 23 players who will face Germany in an international friendly on February 29, 2012.
After the game, it is expected that Blanc will also name the team in a few days time. The final team will travel to Poland-Ukraine in the summer to play in the European Championships.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904 due to injuries. However, there are other big names who have not received a call from the former Manchester United man.
The likes of Lassana Diarra, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Yoann-Gourcuff-c37416 were expected to miss out but Blanc has chosen not to call upon the first two either. The latter (Gourcuff), has not done that well for long so him missing out is not such a big deal.
However, the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dimitri-Payet-c11276 and Gael Clichy have missed out.
All these players play regularly at the highest level but that isn’t enough for Blanc. Of course their absence from the game against Germany is not the end as they could still make it to the final list, but a few know that they might miss out on a trip to
Eastern Europe in the summer.
The case of Clichy is peculiar as he already has to fight for the left-back role with the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Patrice-Evra-c29231 and Eric Abidal – two of the most senior players in the squad.
Others, like http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Guillaume-Hoarau-c15332, who just returned from lengthy spells at the treatment table, really need to worry about their future with Les Bleus.
Bacary Sagna of Arsenal, has to compete with the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mathieu-Debuchy-c24682 and Anthony Reveillere who have been consistent throughout the season and have done well for Blanc during Sagna’s absence.
“In http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 team, nothing is guaranteed. ‘Antho’ Reveillere and Mathieu Debuchy, I’ve known them and they have been good. They motivated me to return. It would be a big month if I make it to the trip to Germany,” confided Sagna while talking to L’Equipe a
few weeks back – albeit in vain.
Guillaume Hoarau’s case is certainly more straightforward than the cases of Sagna and his former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 teammate.
Currently, France have some of the best strikers in France and outside. Real Madrid have relied a lot on Karim Benzema this season while Paris Saint-Germain’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kevin-Gameiro-c20721 is a handy striker. However, it is the rapid emergence of Montpellier striker Olivier
Giroud that has made Blanc change a few things. Giroud is the topscorer in Ligue 1 with 16 goals.
Unfortunately, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130 striker, Bafetimbi Gomis also misses out despite the former Saint-Etienne man’s decent performances. Though his 23-man squad list is far from complete, recent omissions certainly mean that a few big names could miss out.
Blanc is set to give some of the fringe players a chance which makes matters more complicated for the likes of Clichy, Sagna and even Gourcuff.
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