France manager Didier Deschamps has named a 24-man squad for the country’s friendly with the Netherlands on the 5th of March. See the squad in full below:
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Stephane Ruffier (St Étienne)
Defenders: Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Lucas Digne (PSG), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), Eliaquim Mangala (FC Porto), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (PSG), Clement Grenier (Lyon), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Rio Mavuba (Lille)
Attackers: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad), Dimitri Payet (Marseille), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille), Loic Remy (Newcastle), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
The Press Conference: Highlights:
On Antoine Griezmann: ‘He has been selectable since the 1st of January and this is his first chance. His performances with Real Sociedad have shown he knows how to score lots of goals. He is versatile.’
On Eric Abidal’s absence: ‘You can interpret that as you will. There are lots of players who have not made the list so I would rather make that list.’
On Adil Rami: ‘There have been a lot of players who have expressed an interest in playing in the World Cup.’
On Lucas Digne: ‘It is true that he is playing little although he has actually played 20 games since the start of the season. Now, I hope that he gets the time to play but that won’t get in the way of him playing well.’
On Olivier Giroud’s affair story: ‘I am not going to enter into his private life. I will keep myself informed on the situation. I would prefer that this story did not exist but players are in control of their private lives.’
On whether or not he warned Eric Abidal and Samir Nasri that they would not be included in the squad: ‘No. It is tough but these are the times we are in.’
On Paul Pogba’s supposed fall in form: ‘I am monitoring the situation. Paul is a player with enormous potential. Paul was not the only one (who underperformed).’
On Karim Benzema: ‘He is in great form these past weeks. He is clinical at the moment. Good for us.’
On whether players will be allowed to Tweet from the World Cup: ‘I don’t know. Ask me again in May.’
On Enzo Zidane: ‘People really need to leave him alone. Zizou had his career and Enzo will have his. He has been picked by the U19’s squad. There is nothing more to it. Let him carve out his own career.’
