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Domenech forced to play waiting game
by Christian Chatelet from Paris
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France coach Raymond Domenech (¿Getty
Images)
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France's 1998 FIFA World Cup triumph lingers long in the
memory of all Les Bleus fans and players but is tinged with regret for
an unfortunate few. For Nicolas Anelka, Martin Djetou, Sabri Lamouchi,
Lionel Letizi, Ibrahim Ba and Pierre Laigle, it is a case of what might
have been.
Missing the cut
After being called up to Aime Jacquet's provisional World Cup squad, they
were dropped at the last minute, missing the chance of a lifetime by the
slenderest of margins. "I wouldn't want any player to go through
that," a disconsolate Anelka said. Ten years on, some of his colleagues
have just that experience ahead. Despite initial misgivings, France coach
Raymond Domenech says that he too will name a provisional party before
deciding on his final 23 for UEFA EURO 2008T. "I know it's not an
easy position for a player, but the interests of French football must
come first," he said.
Extended list
Domenech's problems stem from the fact that as many as 18 of his squad
will still be in action long after his initial 18 May deadline, and with
the threat of injuries too great to ignore, he will not be taking any
chances. "After 18 May there are still major games to be played such
as the UEFA Champions League, Italian Cup and French Cups final,"
he said. "There is a big risk that some of the players I call up
could get injured, so it will be an extended list given many players are
involved in these matches."
Busy time
On Wednesday, Olympique Lyonnais booked their place in the French Cup
showpiece and FC Internazionale Milano did the same in the Coppa Italia.
In the final Inter could face AS Roma who play tonight. All three sides
boast French internationals, as do UEFA Champions League finalists Chelsea
FC (Florent Malouda, Anelka and Claude Makelele) and Manchester United
FC (Patrice Evra, Louis Saha and Mikael Silvestre) who meet in Moscow
on 21 May.
Lyon strength
Eight French internationals - Karim Benzema, Gregory Coupet, Jeremy Toulalan,
Francois Clerc, Sidney Govou, Sebastien Squillaci, Jean-Alain Boumsong
and Hatem Ben Arfa - should feature for Lyon in the French Cup final on
24 May against Paris Saint-Germain FC, who have Mickael Landreau and Jerome
Rothen among their number. On the same day, national-team captain Patrick
Vieira's Inter could come up against Philippe Mexes's Roma to decide the
Coppa Italia's destination. That is a potential 18 players for Domenech
to worry about before his side's Group C opener against Romania on 9 June.
First, France play Ecuador in Grenoble on 27 May - 24 hours before announcing
their squad - then Paraguay in Toulouse and Colombia in Paris.
Euro2008.uefa.com,
9 May 2008
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