Mamadou Sakho out, Morgan Schneiderlin in for France at Euro 2016
By Andrew Dickson
Last Updated: 01/06/16 12:13am
Mamadou Sakho was left out of France's 23-man squad for Euro 2016 on Tuesday, while Morgan Schneiderlin was a late call-up.Liverpool defender Sakho had been cleared to play again after his 30-day provisional suspension for failing a drugs test expired at the weekend.
But coach Didier Deschamps left Sakho, who missed seven matches during his ban including his club side's Europa League final defeat to Sevilla, out of his final squad.
Schneiderlin was a late addition to the group after initially being overlooked in favour of former Arsenal midfielder Lassana Diarra, now of Marseille.Diarra, however, has a knee injury which will keep him out and that means Manchester United's Schneiderlin has been summoned in his place.
Almost half of Deschamps' squad plays in the Premier League and it includes recent France debutant N'Golo Kante of champions Leicester and West Ham's Dimitri Payet.
Crystal Palace midfielder Yohan Cabaye is a notable inclusion and former English-based players Patrice Evra and Paul Pogba (both Juventus) are in too.
Lyon defender Samuel Umtiti and Sevilla's Adil Rami have been chosen as replacements for injured pair Raphael Varane and Jeremy Mathieu.France continued their preparations for the tournament with a 3-2 win over Cameroon in Nantes on Monday and will play their final warm-up game against Scotland in Metz this Saturday.
Deschamps' team will be bidding to emulate the French sides of 1984 and 1998, which won the European Championship and World Cup on home soil.
The hosts start their campaign against Romania on June 10 in Paris before further group fixtures against Albania and Switzerland.
France squad:
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Olympique de Marseille), Benoit Costil (Stade Rennais)
Defenders: Samuel Umtiti (Olympique Lyonnais), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Manchester City), Adil Rami (Sevilla), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Lucas Digne (AS Roma), Christophe Jallet (Olympique Lyonnais)
Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Juventus), Blaise Matuidi (Paris St Germain), Morgan Schneiderlin (Manchester United), N'Golo Kante (Leicester City), Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United)
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Dimitri Payet (West Ham United), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Andre-Pierre Gignac (UANL Tigres)
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10300556/mamadou-sakho-out-morgan-schneiderlin-in-for-france-at-euro-2016
