FRANCE COACH DIDIER Deschamps has named his 23-man squad for Euro 2016, with Mathieu Valbuena, Hatem Ben Arfa and Morgan Schneiderlin the notable absentees.
Valbuena’s season has been overshadowed by the sextape blackmail affair in which he has been a victim and which has seen star striker Karim Benzema of Real Madrid dropped by his country.
The Lyon midfielder has struggled for form and has unsurprisingly been left out of the hosts’ squad for the finals.
Ben Arfa had been hopeful of making the squad after relaunching his career at Nice but instead has to settle for a place on the standby list of eight.
“Mathieu has had a very difficult season with injuries and his level of performance has been below what he is capable of doing,” said Deschamps, who announced his squad live on television station TF1′s evening news bulletin.
Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho was also omitted after being suspended for 30 days by Uefa for failing a drugs test.
He tested positive for a fat burner after Liverpool’s Europa League game against Manchester United in March and was given a provisional ban at the end of April.
Despite the absence of Benzema, who has scored 27 goals in 81 caps, France have great strength in depth in attack.
Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud could lead the line while Antoine Griezmann is enjoying a superb season with Atletico Madrid.
Anthony Martial and Dimitri Payet have also enjoyed fine campaigns for Man United and West Ham respectively.
But Schneiderlin has paid the price for a poor first season at Old Trafford with Newcastle’s Moussa Sissoko preferred.
France open Euro 2016 against Romania on 10 June before also facing Albania and Switzerland in Group A.
Before that they play friendly matches against Cameroon in Nantes on 30 May and Scotland in Metz on 4 June.
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Benoit Costil (Rennes)
Defenders: Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Manchester City), Jeremy Mathieu (Barcelona), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Lucas Digne (Roma), Christophe Jallet (Lyon)
Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Juventus), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Lassana Diarra (Marseille), N’Golo Kante (Leicester City), Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United)
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Dimitri Payet (West Ham United), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres UANL)
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