MANCHESTER CITY MIDFIELDER Samir Nasri yesterday said that he was considering his future in international football after being left out of the French World Cup squad for a second successive finals.
The 26-year-old said he respected France coach Didier Deschamps decision, ostensibly taken because he didn’t regard him as a team player, but it had prompted him to think about his future.
“It’s a little bit hard to accept,” Nasri told Sky Sports News from Abu Dhabi where City were showing off their Premier League trophy.
“I need to take some time now to think about the national team because it’s been twice now that they take away a World Cup from me,” he continued, referring to then-coach Raymond Domenech’s decision to leave him out of the 2010 World Cup.
“I need to think a little bit during the holiday, what will be my future in the national team, because missing two World Cups is really hard for a player.”
Nasri, whose last match for France was in the first leg of the 2014 World Cup play-off with Ukraine which they lost 2-0 last November, said Deschamps decision hadn’t come as a shock.
“I respect his choice, which hasn’t been a surprise for me,” Nasri told reporters.
“If he thinks my behaviour is bad, that’s his business. Me, I play for my team (Manchester City) and I have no problem,” said Nasri, who has 41 caps for his country.
Nasri, who started his career at Marseille before spending three years at Arsenal prior to joining City, was handed a three-match ban by the French Football Federation for poor behaviour during Euro 2012.
He then returned to the national team in August 2013 but his performances failed to convince Deschamps.
Nasri’s club boss, Manuel Pellegrini, said the midfielder’s absence from the France set-up “is not good news for him. He deserves to play for France but each coach has his choices.”
France kick off their World Cup campaign against Honduras on June 15 in Porto Alegre. They will also face Switzerland and Ecuador in Group E.
