Djibril Cisse was a notable omission when France coach Raymond Domech named his 23-man squad for next month’s Euro 2008 finals.
Domenech, unveiling his final 23-man squad which included six Premiership players for next month’s championships also left out Paris Saint Germain’s Mickael Landreau, Julien Escude, Philippe Mexes, Alou Diarra, Mathieu Flamini and Hatem Ben Arfa from his provisional 30-man squad.
Cisse’s omission will be hard to swallow as he also missed the 2006 World Cup after breaking his leg in a friendly on the eve of France’s departure for Germany and Euro 2004 through suspension.
Cisse’s place has been taken by St Etienne striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who scored two spectacular goals on his France debut in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Ecuador.
He was the first French player to score twice on his first appearance for his country since Zinedine Zidane.
France are drawn in Group C, with the team that beat them in the World Cup final Italy, Holland, and Romania.
France squad:
Goalkeepers: Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), William Gallas (Arsenal), Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona), Francois Clerc (Lyon), Sebastien Squillaci (Lyon), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon)
Midfielders: Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan)
Forwards:: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Samir Nasri (Marseille), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Sidney Govou (Lyon), Bafetimbi Gomis (St Etienne)
