France National Team callups ** SPOILERS **

[Allez.les.bleus]

Raymond Domenech a communiqué sa liste de 36 joueurs pour les matchs amicaux RD Congo-France A' et Espagne-France, les mardi 5 et mercredi 6 février. Clichy, Menez et Mandanda sont appelés pour la première fois, Trezeguet est de nouveau écarté.

GARDIENS DE BUT
Grégory COUPET (Lyon) - 35 ans - 27 sélections
Sébastien FREY (Fiorentina) - 27 ans - 1 sélection
Mickaël LANDREAU (PSG) - 28 ans - 11 sélections
Steve MANDANDA (Marseille) - 22 ans - 0 sélection

DEFENSEURS
Eric ABIDAL (FC Barcelone) - 28 ans - 31 sélections
Jean-Alain BOUMSONG (Lyon) - 28 ans - 22 sélections
François CLERC (Lyon) - 24 ans - 9 sélections
Gaël CLICHY (Arsenal) - 22 ans - 0 sélection
Julien ESCUDE (FC Séville) - 28 ans - 5 sélections
Patrice EVRA (Manchester United) - 26 ans - 9 sélections
William GALLAS (Arsenal) - 30 ans - 59 sélections
Gaël GIVET (Marseille) - 26 ans - 12 sélections
Philippe MEXES (AS Rome) - 25 ans - 8 sélections
Bakari SAGNA (Arsenal) - 24 ans - 2 sélections
Willy SAGNOL (Bayern Munich) - 30 ans - 53 sélections
Sébastien SQUILLACI (Lyon) - 27 ans - 12 sélections
Lilian THURAM (FC Barcelone) - 36 ans - 136 sélections

MILIEUX DE TERRAIN
Abou DIABY (Arsenal) - 21 ans - 2 sélections
Alou DIARRA (Bordeaux) - 26 ans - 12 sélections
Lassana DIARRA (Portsmouth) - 22 ans - 9 sélections
Mathieu FLAMINI (Arsenal) - 23 ans - 1 sélection
Claude MAKELELE (Chelsea) - 34 ans - 65 sélections
Florent MALOUDA (Chelsea) - 27 ans - 34 sélections
Samir NASRI (Marseille) - 20 ans - 7 sélections
Franck RIBERY (Bayern Munich) - 24 ans - 24 sélections
Jérôme ROTHEN (PSG) - 29 ans - 13 sélections
Jérémy TOULALAN (Lyon) - 24 ans - 9 sélections
Patrick VIEIRA (Inter Milan) - 31 ans - 104 sélections

ATTAQUANTS
Nicolas ANELKA (Chelsea) - 28 ans - 43 sélections
Hatem BEN ARFA (Lyon) - 20 ans - 4 sélections
Karim BENZEMA (Lyon) - 20 ans - 8 sélections
Jimmy BRIAND (Rennes) - 22 ans - 0 sélection
Djibril CISSE (Marseille) - 26 ans - 35 sélections
Sidney GOVOU (Lyon) - 28 ans - 30 sélections
Thierry HENRY (FC Barcelone) - 30 ans - 97 sélections
Jérémy MENEZ (Monaco) - 19 ans - 0 sélection

http://www.football365.fr/la_une/sto...-Espagne.shtml

[talk2smc]

finally nice to see Mexes getting some more call ups. he deserves to shine on the international stage. but for domenech he could have been doing that for years.

and it makes complete sense to take Diarra and Vieira who havent played in forever over Guily.

good ol' ray at it again. his record speaks for itself, but his call ups sure are interesting.

[roma_barca]

Yes I second your note, talk2smc.

At the end, Philippe Mexes is in the 36-people squad. But I bet to you he will play with the 2nd team.

I hope he will take him for the EURO in june. Honestly, last time in Wordl Cup 2006, he could have been in the team with the season he made, but Ray prefered to call Givet.

My Good Old God, we don't look football the same way with Raymond

[TheLionLyon]

Originally Posted by roma_barca

Yes I second your note, talk2smc.

At the end, Philippe Mexes is in the 36-people squad. But I bet to you he will play with the 2nd team.

I hope he will take him for the EURO in june. Honestly, last time in Wordl Cup 2006, he could have been in the team with the season he made, but Ray prefered to call Givet.

My Good Old God, we don't look football the same way with Raymond

Actually, he called up Chimbonda (who btw hasn't been called up since) instead of Mexes or Guily. This roster is obviously his conditional squad for EURO 2008. I don't see Mexes playing against Spain, but he might play against the Congo. The only call up that angered me was Lassana Diarra. Domenech should have given Bodmer a chance. Great to see Clichy finally get a shot, although I doubt he sees time with Abidal and Evra in front of him.

[cartbran]

Originally Posted by TheLionLyon

Actually, he called up Chimbonda (who btw hasn't been called up since) instead of Mexes or Guily. This roster is obviously his conditional squad for EURO 2008. I don't see Mexes playing against Spain, but he might play against the Congo. The only call up that angered me was Lassana Diarra. Domenech should have given Bodmer a chance. Great to see Clichy finally get a shot, although I doubt he sees time with Abidal and Evra in front of him.

Raymond won't play Mexes against Congo. Raymond never does anything but play his "strongest 11" plus one or two whoppers that no one can understand. It doesn't matter that the friendly against Congo is rather worthless.

It will be interesting to see what becomes of Diarra. Because all his previous callups have been at RB. However Sagnol is back in the mix and for the life of me, I don't see how he could believe that Diarra is a better RB than Sagna.

[emma_my_girl]

I can definitely see Mexes starting against Congo DR. Unfortunately, there really is no room for him in Domenech's squad. He has come on strong at the wrong time.... I would love to see Clichy come in...I think he is an instrumental part of Arsenal this season, and his dashes up the left flank would create more chances for the French. Coupet would obviously be his choice for starting goalkeeper. It will be interesting to see if Flamini will have a role against the Spanish at all. Would be cool to watch him and Gallas against Fabregas.
I would also love to see France put 3 up front at some point. There are, nonetheless the prospect of so many lethal combinations for strike partners. Anelka has become so dangerous finally for les Bleus. Henry and Benzema would have to be the choice strikers though. I think in a few years the French will also have the most prominent midfield in the World, with Ribery, Diaby and Nasri.
I think Domenech is already pretty sure of who will be in his final Euro squad, and is just giving a few players one last chance to prove their worth in these upcoming matches.

[TheLionLyon]

Squad against Mali and England

Gardiens
Grégory COUPET - Olympique Lyonnais
Sébastien FREY - ACF Fiorentina
Mickaël LANDREAU - Paris-SG
Stève MANDANDA - Olympique de Marseille

Défenseurs
Eric ABIDAL - F.C. Barcelone
Jean-Alain BOUMSONG - Olympique Lyonnais
François CLERC - Olympique Lyonnais
Gaël CLICHY - Arsenal
Mathieu DELPIERRE - VFB Stuttgart
Julien ESCUDE - F.C. Séville
Patrice EVRA - Manchester United
William GALLAS - Arsenal F.C.
Gaël GIVET - Olympique Marseille
Philippe MEXES - AS Roma
Adil RAMI - Lille OSC
Bakary SAGNA - Arsenal F.C.
Sébastien SQUILLACI - Olympique Lyonnais
Lilian THURAM - F.C. Barcelone

Milieux
Mathieu BODMER - Olympique Lyonnais
Alou DIARRA - F.C.G. Bordeaux
Lassana DIARRA - FC Portsmouth
Mathieu FLAMINI - Arsenal F.C.
Claude MAKELELE - Chelsea FC
Rio Antonio MAVUBA - Lille OSC
Samir NASRI - Olympique de Marseille
Jérôme ROTHEN - Paris-SG
Jérémy TOULALAN - Olympique Lyonnais
Patrick VIEIRA - Inter de Milan

Attaquants
Nicolas ANELKA - Chelsea FC
Hatem BEN-ARFA - Olympique Lyonnais
Karim BENZEMA - Olympique Lyonnais
Jimmy BRIAND - Stade Rennais
Djibril CISSE - Olympique de Marseille
Sidney GOVOU - Olympique Lyonnais
Thierry HENRY - F.C. Barcelone
Florent MALOUDA - Chelsea FC
Franck RIBERY - Bayern Munich
Louis SAHA - Manchester United
Mathieu VALBUENA - Olympique de Marseille

http://www.fff.fr/servfff/historique...er_selec.shtml

Great to see the Lyon contingent in there with out newest addition being Bodmer (should of gotten called up when he was with Lille). Great to see Mavuba back and Delpierre getting in the squad (probably with the A'). Can't wait until after EURO's when some young guys can start getting it. Oh and Louis Saha........ wtf Domenech?

[drac78]

OMG what a terrible list

Landreau!?? Cissé!??? Briand?? Givet!? Rami? and where is Lloris?

This list is so typical of Domenech...7 DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS!!??

[TheLionLyon]

Originally Posted by drac78

OMG what a terrible list

Landreau!?? Cissé!??? Briand?? Givet!? Rami? and where is Lloris?

This list is so typical of Domenech...7 DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS!!??

Lloris was called up for Under 21 duty. Cisse is in form right now, so I understand that. Briand and Rami are probably for the A' match against Mali.

[talk2smc]

Originally Posted by TheLionLyon

Great to see the Lyon contingent in there with out newest addition being Bodmer (should of gotten called up when he was with Lille). Great to see Mavuba back and Delpierre getting in the squad (probably with the A'). Can't wait until after EURO's when some young guys can start getting it. Oh and Louis Saha........ wtf Domenech?

like the Lyon contingent is never there.

but i do agree, its nice to see Mavuba in there, i think hes long overdue. and the Saha pick is ridiculous. but then again, so is Domenech. lets see if Mexes even sees any time.

i dont know why Domenech is picking him when hes not going to take him to the Euro.