Dimitri Payet and N’Golo Kante have been included in France’s squad
for Euro 2016 but Morgan Schneiderlin is restricted to a place on the
standby list.
The duo, who have both enjoyed impressive seasons in the Premier
League, have been rewarded for their good form with a spot in Dider
Deschamps’ final 23-man group.
Deschamps has decided to leave out Nice star Hatem Ben Arfa, Sevilla
striker Kevin Gameiro and Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette, with Tigres
top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac receiving an invitation instead.
Eliaquim Mangala and Jeremy Mathieu have made the cut in defence,
while promising youngsters Kingsley Coman and Anthony Martial have both
been included, too, following their fine performances for Bayern Munich
and Manchester United respectively.
The France boss had previously revealed that Real Madrid forward
Karim Benzema would not go to Euro 2016 after he was charged with
complicity in an attempt to blackmail and participating in a criminal
conspiracy as part of an investigation into a sex-tape plot involving
international team-mate Mathieu Valbuena.
Valbuena, meanwhile, has been snubbed following his underwhelming
performances at club level and Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho will
miss out following a positive doping test.
France meet Albania, Switzerland and Romania in Group A, kicking off the tournament against Albania on June 10.
FRANCE SQUAD FOR EURO 2016:
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Benoit Costil.
Defenders: Raphael Varane, Laurent Koscielny, Bacary
Sagna, Patrice Evra, Eliaquim Mangala, Jeremy Mathieu, Christophe
Jallet, Lucas Digne.
Midfielders: Paul Pogba, Blaise Matuidi, Lassana Diarra, Moussa Sissoko, N’Golo Kante, Yohan Cabaye.
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Anthony Martial, Olivier Giroud, Dimitri Payet, Kingsley Coman, Andre-Pierre Gignac.
Standby list: Alphonse Areola, Hatem Ben Arfa, Kevin
Gameiro, Alexandre Lacazette, Adrien Rabiot, Morgan Schneiderlin,
Djibril Sidibe, Samuel Umtiti.