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Gourcuff and Yanga-Mbiwa cut from France Euro 2012 squad
May 29, 2012 10:39:00 AM
The Lyon man will not go to Poland and Ukraine after a disappointing season, while the Montpellier defender is also to miss out
Laurent Blanc has finalised the France squad that will travel to Euro 2012, reducing his numbers to the Uefa-requisite 23 by cutting Yoann Gourcuff and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa from his unit.Initially the France boss had named a total of 27 players in his pre-selection panel, but Olympique de Marseille’s Loic Remy dropped out last week because of a thigh problem sustained at the tail end of the Ligue 1 season along with Tottenham centre-back Younes Kaboul, who is also stricken.
Speculation was rife as to the identities of the other two unfortunate men would be, but Gourcuff was always considered to be a likely player to drop out after a difficult campaign with Olympique Lyonnais. He was given the chance to impress in Sunday’s 3-2 friendly win over Iceland in Valenciennes, but clearly did not do enough in Blanc’s eyes to justify his selection.
Yanga-Mbiwa, meanwhile, was one of four centre-backs named in the initial squad, but the uncapped Montpellier player will not travel to Ukraine with the rest of the team, with his lack of experience probably a key factor in the coach’s decision making.
France meet Serbia on Thursday and then face Estonia on June 5 as their warm-up matches end. They will meet England, Sweden and co-hosts Ukraine in Group D of the competition proper.
France's 23-man squad to play Euro 2012:
| Name | Club |
| Goalkeepers: | |
| Hugo Lloris |
Lyon |
| Steve Mandanda |
Marseille |
| Cedric Carrasso |
Bordeaux |
| Defenders: | |
| Gael Clichy | Manchester City |
| Mathieu Debuchy |
Lille |
| Patrice Evra | Manchester United |
| Laurent Koscielny | Arsenal |
| Philippe Mexes | AC Milan |
| Adil Rami | Valencia |
| Anthony Reveillere |
Lyon |
| Midfielders: | |
| Hatem Ben Arfa | Newcastle |
| Yohan Cabaye | Newcastle |
| Alou Diarra |
Marseille |
| Yann M'Vila |
Rennes |
| Marvin Martin |
Sochaux |
| Florent Malouda | Chelsea |
| Blaise Matuidi | PSG |
| Samir Nasri | Manchester City |
| Franck Ribery | Bayern Munich |
| Attackers: | |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid |
| Olivier Giroud | Montpellier |
| Jeremy Menez | PSG |
| Mathieu Valbuena | Marseille |
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