Paris, May 12 (DPA) France coach Raymond Domenech dropped popular Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema from his 30-man World Cup squad, but has remained loyal to the side’s out-of-form captain Thierry Henry.
The list of players, which does not include veteran midfielder Patrick Vieira, was made public national television late Tuesday.
Domenech, who said he would announce the team’s final 23-man list Tuesday, but contradicted himself by announcing 30 names, included several surprises in the side.
These include defenders Adil Rami of Lille and Marc Planus from Bordeaux as well as Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila.
There had been broad speculation in French media that Domenech could drop the 32-year-old Henry, who has been used rarely by Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.
But the captain and France record goal-scorer was named for an unprecedented fourth World Cup selection.
However, Domenech found no place on the squad for the 33-year-old Vieira, who has been slow to come back from injury for his Manchester City side.
In a related development, the 18-year-old call girl at the centre of a scandal involving three former and present France players wrote a letter to Domenech saying she was “stupefied and saddened” by the affair.
In the letter made public Tuesday on the website L’Express.fr, the woman, identified as Zahia Dehar, said she had always lied about her age to the players involved, “so as not to put them off.”
Several players were suspected of having had paid sex with Dehar when she was a minor.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Lyon, France), Steve Mandanda (Marseille, France), Cedric Carasso (Bordeaux, France) and Mickael Landreau (Lille, France).
Defenders: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal, England), Eric Abidal (Barcelona, Spain), William Gallas (Arsenal, England), Patrice Evra (Manchester United, England), Rod Fanni (Rennes, France), Adil Rami (Lille, France), Sebastien Squillaci (Seville, Spain), Gael Clichy (Arsenal, England), Marc Planus (Bordeaux, France) and Anthony Reveillere (Lyon, France).
Midfielders: Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon, France), Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid, Spain), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux, France), Abou Diaby (Arsenal, England), Yann M’Vila (Rennes, France) and Florent Malouda (Arsenal, England).
Strikers: Sidney Govou (Lyon, France), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich, Germany), Thierry Henry (Barcelona, Spain), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea, England), Djibril Cisse (Panathinaikos, Greece), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse, France), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille, France), Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille, France) and Jimmy Briand (Rennes, France).
rounak