Skuad Sementara Timnas Prancis di Euro 2012

Paris - Laurent Blanc mengumumkan skuad awal timnas Prancis yang berjumlah 26 nama. Tidak terlihat nama bek Tottenham Hotspur Younes Kaboul. Sebaliknya, muncul nama bek Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa yang baru kali ini dipanggil.

Kaboul dicoret dari skuad Prancis untuk Piala Eropa 2012 karena cedera otot patella. "Younes absen dari Euro. Ia mengalami cedera signifikan pada lututnya, otot patella, yang sudah mengganggunya untuk sekian waktu," terang Blanc di situs FIFA.

Kehadiran Yanga-Mbiwa, yang baru merayakan ulang tahun ke-23 pada hari Selasa (15/5/2012), tampaknya dipersiapkan untuk mengisi kekosongan di lini belakang akibat absennya Kaboul.

Dalam daftar tim sementara itu juga ada nama Yoann Gourcuff, setelah sebelumnya sempat jadi spekulasi. Musim ini ia cuma menjalani 13 laga liga untuk Lyon karena cedera dan belum pernah memperkuat Les Bleus sejak Maret 2011.

Prancis, yang di Euro tergabung bersama Inggris, Swedia, dan Ukraina di Grup D, akan memulai kiprahnya pada tanggal 11 Juni. Blanc mesti mengumumkan skuad akhir berisikan 23 pemain paling lambat tanggal 29 Mei.

Skuad  Prancis Euro 2012 :

Kiper: Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

Pemain Bertahan: Gael Clichy (Manchester City/Inggris), Mathieu Debuchy (Lille), Patrice Evra (Manchester United/Inggris), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/Inggris), Philippe Mexes (AC Milan/Italia), Adil Rami (Valencia/Spanyol), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon), Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (Montpellier)

Gelandang: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United/Inggris), Alou Diarra (Marseille), Yoann Gourcuff (Lyon), Florent Malouda (Chelsea/Inggris), Marvin Martin (Sochaux), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Yann M'Vila (Rennes), Samir Nasri (Manchester City/Inggris), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/Jerman)

Penyerang: Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United/Inggris), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/Spanyol), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Jeremy Menez (Paris Saint-Germain), Loic Remy (Marseille), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)

Blanc calls on Ben Arfa for Euro 2012

koclokindoblog, 10 Mei 2012, France head coach Laurent Blanc has included Newcastle midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa as one of 12 foreign-based players in his Euro 2012 squad.

The 25-year-old has not featured for Les Bleus since August 2010, when he came on as a substitute in the 2-1 friendly defeat against Norway in what was Blanc's first match in charge of the national team.

Ben Arfa has been in impressive form at Newcastle this season after fully recovering from a broken tibia and fibula sustained in 2010-11, and has been rewarded with a place on Blanc's first provisional list, which features only foreign-based players.

Team-mate Yohan Cabaye has also been named among eight Premier League players.

Tottenham defender Younes Kaboul, Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny, Manchester City pair Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri, Manchester United's Patrice Evra and Chelsea winger Florent Malouda are all in the squad.

Real Madrid star Karim Benzema is the only striker on the roster.

The second provisional list, with players who ply their trade in France, will be revealed on May 15.

France will play friendly matches against Iceland, Serbia and Estonia before flying to Ukraine for Euro 2012.

The 1998 World Cup winners have been paired with Ukraine, Sweden and England in Group D, with their first match scheduled for June 11, against the Three Lions.

Preliminary squad of overseas-based players:

Defenders: Gael Clichy (Manchester City), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Younes Kaboul (Tottenham Hotspur), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Philippe Mexes (AC Milan), Adil Rami (Valencia)

Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Samir Nasri (Manchester City)

Forwards: Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)

soccerway.com

Wenger rules out Diaby for Euro 2012

koclokindoblog, 5 Mei 2012, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has ruled out Abou Diaby for Euro 2012 due to injury.

The injury-plagued France international has missed the majority of the campaign due to ankle and hamstring problems yet appeared to be fit heading into the summer.

However, the former Auxerre man picked up a calf strain in Arsenal's 1-1 draw against Stoke City last weekend and looks unlikely to feature again this season.

"Abou Diaby is not in the squad (to face Norwich on Saturday) and I think he's unavailable for the Euros," Wenger told RMC Sport.

"It would be unrealistic to think he can go to the European Championship. He has had no continuity this season. It's unrealistic to imagine that he can play in six weeks at the Euros."

Diaby has only made four appearances this season for the Gunners in all competitions.

Meanwhile, Wenger said Arsenal's popularity in African countries 'frightens' him and admitted the scheduled pre-season tour to Nigeria is not for sporting reasons.

The Gunners have regularly travelled to the Far East in recent tours but will also visit Africa for the first time ahead of next season.

Wenger said that the Gunners have forfeited some of their pre-season training plans at their London base in order to fulfil their commercial responsibilities.

"We have had to compromise on the sporting side, because we had a rational, methodical approach to our pre-season," the Frenchman told reporters.

"We have sacrificed some of that to go on tour.

"But we are in a race with the other clubs as well. I realised when I was at the World Cup in South Africa how popular a club like Arsenal is in Africa, especially in Nigeria. It is unbelievable.

"I was even frightened at some stage by how popular Arsenal is. In Kenya as well, it is absolutely unbelievable."

The Gunners coach also confessed that in a summer with a major international tournament - in this case, Euro 2012 - an extended tour creates further problems.

"A tour has advantages and disadvantages, let's be honest," he said.

"The advantage, of course, is to get in touch with your fan base in Asia - when you travel out there you realise how big the Premier League is and how big your club is over there.

"We are looking forward to doing it again, but unfortunately in the European Championship years or the World Cup years, on the purely sports side you suffer a bit more because your players have just come back and have to travel again, so the preparation time will be short for them.

"But on purely fan-base it is very exciting."

 

soccerway.com