PARIS. — France coach Didier Deschamps on Tuesday left Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri out of his 23-man squad for this year’s World Cup soccer finals in Brazil.Neither 26-year-old Nasri, who has won 41 caps, nor Monaco captain Eric Abidal, capped 67 times, feature in the squad or on the seven-man standby list.
“He is a player of great quality, but Samir’s performances for France have not been of the standard of those with his club Manchester City,” Deschamps said after revealing his squad live on French television channel TF1’s evening news programme.
“He is an important player and a first-pick for Manchester City and that is not the case for France. And when he is a substitute he is not happy, and that is felt by the squad as a whole. That is why he is not on the list.”
Nasri responded to the news of his exclusion by tweeting: “Thanks for all your messages of support that’s life another world cup spent at home what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger (sic)”.
However, Samir Nasri’s girlfriend hit out at France coach Deschamps in a foul-mouthed Twitter tirade after the Manchester City midfielder was left out of the 30-man provisional World Cup squad. British model Anara Atanes made clear her displeasure at Deschamps’ decision to leave Nasri at home despite his achievements at the club level this season.
Atanes tweeted: “F*** France and f*** Deschamps. What a s*** manager.”
She followed it up minutes later by tweeting: “In case you didn’t read my tweet properly . . . I’ll repeat myself . . . f*** FRANCE!!!!! And f*** Deschamps! Let’s just get this straight. I’m not mad I get my boyfriend for two months. I just think there’s a level of respect to be had #shouldhavebeenspanish.” The outburst is unlikely to endear Nasri to Les Bleus’ supporters who have recently reconnected with the France side after the disquiet that followed the squad going on strike during its shambolic 2010 World Cup campaign.
Nasri was not involved in the bust-up in Knysna, South Africa, but was reported to have been a disruptive influence as France nosedived out of Euro 2012 remarkably tamely against Spain, after he launched a scathing attack against reporters during the tournament.
The former Arsenal man has seemed like a happier figure at club level and, on Sunday, capped a fine season for Manuel Pellegrini’s men with the opening goal in the 2-0 English Premier League title-clinching victory over West Ham.
He was, however, widely expected to be left out of the party for Brazil this summer, with Deschamps confirming the decision in his provisional squad for the tournament on Tuesday evening. Nasri, who was also left out of Raymond Domenech’s squad for the 2010 World Cup, last played for France in the 2-0 defeat to Ukraine in the first leg of last November’s World Cup qualifying play-off.
Abidal also played in that game before losing his place, and Deschamps admitted that he preferred to take a younger player than the former Barcelona man, who is now 34.
There are eight players aged under 25 in the squad, including Real Sociedad winger Antoine Griezmann, who made his international debut against the Netherlands in March, and 21-year-old duo Raphael Varane of Real Madrid and Paul Pogba of Juventus.
France World Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Mickael Landreau (SC Bastia), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
Defenders: Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle United/ENG), Lucas Digne (Paris Saint-Germain), Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ENG), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ENG), Eliaquim Mangala (FC Porto/POR), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal/ENG), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool/ENG), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid/ESP)
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Paris Saint-Germain), Clement Grenier (Lyon), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Rio Mavuba (Lille), Paul Pogba (Juventus/ITA), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United/ENG), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal/ENG), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad/ESP), Loic Remy (Newcastle United/ENG), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/GER)
Standby list: Remy Cabella (Montpellier), Maxime Gonalons, Alexandre Lacazette (both Lyon), Loic Perrin, Stephane Ruffier (both Saint-Etienne), Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton/ENG), Benoit Tremoulinas (Saint-Etienne, on loan from Dynamo Kiev/UKR). — AFP.