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After the disappointment that was the 2010 FIFA World Cup, France has clawed its way back into the international limelight under Laurent Blanc, and Les Bleus are the overwhelming favorites to capture Euro 2012's Group D.

Behind an attacking nucleus that includes the likes of Karim Benzema, Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri, France, which enters the tournament on a 21-match unbeaten streak, eyes a deep Euro run to put all memories of South Africa 2010 in the distant past.

So the Iceland friendly was an audition for Gourcuff, and it essentially showed that he wasn't ready. He's been out a good portion of the last season with injury, and didn't look ready for the international level.

Yanga-Mbiwa had received his first call-up for France to be in the provisional squad, but Blanc is willing to take a risk of including just three central defenders in his squad: Rami, Mexes, and Koscielny.

France national team head coach Laurent Blanc has rounded out the preliminary roster for this summer's Euro 2012, and Les Bleus look as deep a team as any.

Blanc has called in a 26-man roster that will need to be trimmed down to 23 by May 29, and among the players selected are Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery, Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri and Patrice Evra of Manchester United.

Euro Qualifier on Friday.

Fifa.com has a post about Cisse and Gomis being called up as replacements to injured players who include:

Benzema;
Ribery; and
Sagna.

That's 3 starters, plus Abidal reportedly has "fitness concerns."

Mexes is still out, right? We should get an updated roster:

From AFP "one day ago":

Revised France squad

Goalkeepers
Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux)

Defenders
Eric Abidal (Barcelona/ESP)
Mathieu Debuchy (Lille)
Adil Rami (Valencia/ESP)
Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ENG)
Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)
Younes Kaboul (Tottenham/ENG)
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ENG)
Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia/ESP)

Midfielders
Alou Diarra (Marseille)
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle/ENG)
Yann Mvila (Rennes)
Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ENG)
Jeremy Menez (Paris SG)
Samir Nasri (Manchester City/ENG)
Marvin Martin (Sochaux)
Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)

Forwards
Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon)
Kevin Gameiro (Paris SG)
Loic Remy (Marseille)
Djibril Cisse (Lazio/ITA)

Just a brief reminder that if France do not win against Albania, we're probably screwed (i.

Here's Laurent Blanc's selection for the friendly on Wednesday in Montpellier against Chile:

Goalkeepers
Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux)
Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

Defenders
Eric Abidal (Barcelona)
Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
Younes Kaboul (Tottenham)
Adil Rami (Valencia)
Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)
Bacary Sagna (Arsenal)
Mamadou Sakho (PSG)

Midfielders
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle)
Alou Diarra (Marseille)
Yann M'Vila (Rennes)
Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
Marvin Martin (Sochaux)
Blaise Matuidi (PSG)
Samir Nasri (Arsenal)
Jeremy Menez [read more]

Under fire manager Raymond Domenech named his squad for Spain friendly match Goalkeepers: Cedric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille) Defenders: Aly Cissokho (Olympique Lyon), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Julien Escude (Sevilla), Rod Fanni (Stade Rennes), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Olympique Lyon), Michael Ciani (Girondins Bordeaux), Adil Rami (Lille) Midfielders: Lassana Diarra [.

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France national team head coach Laurent Blanc has released his roster for the upcoming friendly against the U.S. men's national team, and as expected, the team is stacked.

Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Hugo Lloris headline a 22-man roster that will face the United States and Belgium on November 11 and 15, respectively.

Things aren't going so hot for the French national team right now. They're only sitting second in their World Cup Qualifying group, coming off a pair of 1-1 draws, everyone hates their manager, and now, ahead of a cupcake match against Faroe Islands (a side they only beat 1-0 last time), their players are losing consciousness during training.

Take a look for yourselves, courtesy of the mugshots on FFF.fr. And that's without Gourcuff.

I'll update later, but here's the squad to face the USA and Belgium:

Goalkeepers
Cedric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux)
Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon)
Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille)

Defenders
Eric Abidal (Barcelona)
Matthieu Debuchy (Lille)
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)
Adil Rami (Valencia)
Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)
Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia)
Mamadou Sakho (Paris St Germain)

Midfielders
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United)
Alou Diarra (Marseille)
Yann M'Vila (Stade Rennes)
Marvin Martin (Sochaux)

Attacking Midfielders
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Jeremy Menez (PSG)
Samir Nasri (Manchester City)
Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Forwards
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Kevin Gameiro (PSG)
Olivier Giroud (Montpellier)
Loic Remy (Marseille)

PARIS, France — Marseille beat Saint-Etienne 2-1 Saturday in the French league to keep up its title challenge. The defending champion cut Lille's lead to three points and provisionally moved into second place in the standings, one point clear of Lyon which thrashed Nancy 4-0 on Friday. Lille visits Montpellier on Sunday.

Raymond Domenech will hope to secure a crucial three points in Polokwane.

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France coach Raymond Domenech is expected to abandon the 4-3-3 formation that proved ineffective against Uruguay and revert to his preferred 4-2-3-1 system against Mexico, with Jeremy Toulalan and Abou Diaby in front of the defence.

Lyon striker Karim Benzema has urged his France team-mates to perform as well as possible in tomorrow's friendly with Turkey to put the nightmare against Nigeria behind them.
Les Bleus slipped to a 1-0 defeat on Tuesday in St Etienne amid continuous jeers from the sparse crowd.

Benzema and his fellow Lyon players were singled out for special attention at the home of their club's bitter rivals but he is confident similar scenes on and off the pitch will not be repeated tomorrow.