Gourcuff left out of France squad

France coach Laurent Blanc oversees a training session.

France coach Laurent Blanc oversees a training session.

Published May 29, 2012

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Le Touquet, France – France coach Laurent Blanc named his final 23-man squad for Euro 2012 on Tuesday, with Lyon's Yoann Gourcuff and Montpellier's Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa the two men axed from the provisional list.

Midfielder Gourcuff endured a miserable season with his club, marred by injuries and lack of form, but had been given hope of going to the finals in Poland and Ukraine when Blanc – who previously coached him at Bordeaux – included him in an initial 25-man squad.

However, he failed to impress in Sunday's 3-2 friendly win against Iceland and will now watch the tournament from home.

Meanwhile, the absence of Yanga-Mbiwa from the final list is no major surprise.

He captained Montpellier's Ligue 1 title-winning team but has yet to be capped by Les Bleus and Blanc feels he has enough cover in the centre of defence.

Sochaux's Marvin Martin, Blaise Matuidi of Paris Saint-Germain and Gael Clichy of Manchester City all made the cut, with the latter winning his place due to the absence of Eric Abidal.

The Barcelona stalwart is recovering from a liver transplant in March.

SQUAD

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

Defenders: Gael Clichy (Manchester City/ENG), Mathieu Debuchy (Lille), Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ENG), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ENG), Philippe Mexes (AC Milan/ITA), Adil Rami (Valencia/ESP), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)

Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United/ENG), Alou Diarra (Marseille), Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ENG), Marvin Martin (Sochaux), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Yann M'vila (Rennes), Samir Nasri (Manchester City/ENG)

Forwards: Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United/ENG), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Jeremy Menez (Paris Saint-Germain), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/GER), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille) – Sapa-AFP

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