Deschamps omits Manchester City’s Nasri and Clichy in World Cup selection

 France head coach Didier Deschamps has sprung a few surprises in naming his squad for the World Cup by leaving out Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Eric Abidal. Deschamps, who has named his final 23 already, chose to omit recently-crowned Premier League winners Nasri and Clichy, despite the pair having reprrsented France on 61 occasions […]
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sambafoot_admin
2014-05-14 09:58:00

 France head coach Didier Deschamps has sprung a few surprises in naming his squad for the World Cup by leaving out Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Eric Abidal.

Deschamps, who has named his final 23 already, chose to omit recently-crowned Premier League winners Nasri and Clichy, despite the pair having reprrsented France on 61 occasions between them.

“He is a player of great quality, but Samir’s performances for France have not been of the standard of those with his club Manchester City”, the manager told TF1.

And Abidal, who has long suffered serious health issues, misses out on a defensive spot, leaving the coach with younger options in Elaquim Mangala and Rafael Varane for the tournament in Brazil.

The former Barcelona defender, 34, has won 67 caps and has an impressive trophy haul which includes two Champions league winners’ medals from his time in Spain.

France begin their Group E campaign on June 15 against Honduras in Belo Horizonte and also play Switzerland and Ecuador in the early rounds.