LAGOS, Nigeria(VOICE OF NAIJA)- Barcelona Ousmane Dembele and Christopher Nkunku of RB Leipzig are two of the players Didier Deschamps recalled to the France squad on Wednesday in preparation for two Euro 2024 qualifiers scheduled for June.
Due to fitness issues, neither player was able to participate in France’s first two qualifying victories against the Netherlands at home and the Republic of Ireland on the road in March.
Now, they are in first place in qualifying Group B with six points heading into games against Gibraltar in Faro, Portugal on June 16 and Greece at home three days later.
“You will say I am very pragmatic, but the three points that are available against Gibraltar have the same value as those we took against the Netherlands or in Ireland,” Deschamps told reporters in Paris.
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“He was supposed to be in the squad for the World Cup but was ruled out by injury, but now he is back on top form,” added Deschamps of Nkunku, who scored four goals in the last five Bundesliga games of the season for his club as they finished third.
This coming weekend’s German Cup final between Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt is expected to include him.
Chelsea’s center defender Wesley Fofana is also in the squad and will attempt to make his full France debut after withdrawing from the March list due to injury,
Ferland Mendy of Real Madrid was called up for the first time since the World Cup, and William Saliba of Arsenal, who is out with an injury, is one of the noticeable absences.
Khephren Thuram, a highly regarded Nice midfielder, was omitted, and N’Golo Kante, a midfielder for Chelsea and Paul Pogba of Juventus, both heroes of France’s World Cup-winning 2018 campaign, are once more absent following seasons marred by injuries.
France’s team for their Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Gibraltar and Greece is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Brice Samba (Lens), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), and Alphonse Areola (West Ham United, England).
Defenders include Jules Kounde of Barcelona, Wesley Fofana of Chelsea, Theo Hernandez of AC Milan, Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool, Ferland Mendy of Real Madrid, Benjamin Pavard of Bayern Munich, and Dayot Upamecano of Bayern Munich.
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Eduardo Camavinga of Real Madrid in Spain, Youssouf Fofana of Monaco, Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid in Spain, Adrien Rabiot of Juventus in Italy, and Aurelien Tchouameni of Real Madrid in Spain are all midfielders.
Forwards include Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain, Ousmane Dembele of Barcelona, Olivier Giroud of AC Milan, Randal Kolo Muani of Eintracht Frankfurt, Marcus Thuram of Borussia Moenchengladbach, and Kingsley Coman of Bayern Munich.