Euro 2008

Coach
Raymond DOMENECH: Former France Under-21 coach often criticised for his eccentric selections and perceived lack of inspirational qualities but his record of one tournament, one final is worth some credit. Took Lyon to the French Ligue 2 title in the years before they routinely won the title by default.

Goalkeepers
Grégory COUPET (Lyon): 35-year-old first choice who has been in fine form with the perpetual French champions since returning from injury in the new year. Expected to retire from international football after the championship.

Sébastien FREY (Fiorentina): Grandson of André who made his international début at 27 last November; a 2-2 draw in the dead-rubber final qualifying match in Kiev. Has been instrumental in the renaissance of Fiorentina in the last three seasons.

Steve MANDANDA (Marseille): Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mandanda’s fine performances in his first season at the Stade Vélodrome have earned the youngster a squad place at the expense of Mickaël Landreau, who struggled as Paris St-Germain narrowly escaped the drop.

Defenders
Éric ABIDAL (Barcelona): Skilful left-sided wing-back whose attacking qualities mean he is just likely to get the nod ahead of Evra. Moved to the Camp Nou a year ago from Lyon, where he was a team-mate of Coupet, Clerc, Benzema and Govou.

Jean-Alain BOUMSONG (Lyon): Offloaded by Newcastle to then-Serie B side Juventus after a string of poor performances in the 05/06 season, now at Lyon where defenders have one of the easiest jobs in European football. Likely to be France’s fourth-choice centre-back.

François CLERC (Lyon): Battles with Anthony Réveillère for the rôle of Lyon’s first-choice right back but is likely to remain understudy to Sagnol.

Patrice EVRA (Manchester Utd): Exciting Senegal-born left-back who has excelled at Old Trafford but is likely to start on the substitutes bench, at least for the first match.

William GALLAS (Arsenal): Played all over the back four at Chelsea but is now cemented at centre-back at Arsenal. An outstanding, versatile defender with a speciality for poaching goals from corner kicks but seems not to have the right temperament for the captaincy at the Emirates. Is spared that burden for les Bleus.

Willy SAGNOL (Bayern Munich): Ageing right-back now largely second choice at the Allianz Arena behind Philipp Lahm. Missed the first half of the season through knee ligament damage but is back as France’s first-choice right-back ahead of Clerc, Réveillère and Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna.

Sébastien SQUILLACI (Lyon): A famous footballing name, if not a famous spelling. Dependable central defender finally making his first tournament squad, parnered 2006 World Cup squad member Gaël Givet at the heart of the Monaco defence when they reached the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final.

Lilian THURAM (Barcelona): Long-in-the-tooth central defender who played at right-back when France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. Still technically outstanding but his limbs can no longer be guaranteed to keep pace with his brain.

Midfielders
Lassana DIARRA (Portsmouth): Mystifyingly jettisoned by both Chelsea and Arsenal within the space of half a season, catapulted Portsmouth to improbable FA Cup glory. An energetic, deep-lying central midfielder who occasionally played right-back under José Mourinho.

Sidney GOVOU (Lyon): Can play up front but is now most commonly found playing as an attacking midfielder from a wide position. Has pace to burn but his inability to score goals consistently means he is often perceived as being Jack of all trades but master of none.

Claude MAKÉLÉLÉ (Chelsea): Still the best holding midfielder in the world at 35 but can only realistically play one match in a week. Diarra’s energy may mean Makélélé does not start every game.

Florent MALOUDA (Chelsea): Skilful left-winger but has struggled to impress in his first season at Stamford Bridge, scoring just four goals in all competitions. Needs to prove himself or he may lose out to Govou, Nasri or Benzema.

Samir NASRI (Marseille): Courted by Arsenal, the ‘new Zidane’ has flair and imagination but is yet to prove himself outside of domestic French football. Will turn 21 the week before the Final.

Franck RIBÉRY (Bayern Munich): Genius midfield playmaker who has become France’s most important player and now their regular penalty taker, scoring from the spot in recent friendlies against England and Colombia. Usually plays from the left for Bayern but plays on his stronger right side for France. Can move inside to provide thrust down the middle but Sagnol is unlikely to provide enough attacking menace as a wing-back for this to work.

Jérémy TOULALAN (Lyon): 24-year-old promising central midfielder who has become more of a holding player since joining Lyon from Nantes. Could be the long-term successor to Vieira and possibly more immediately if the former Arsenal man cannot prove his fitness before the Romania game.

Patrick VIEIRA (Internazionale): Battling to prove his match fitness in time for the first game; Domenech has Milan’s new recruit from Arsenal, Mathieu Flamini, in reserve just in case. Is less energetic since his move to Italian football and doesn’t quite have the authority of his time at Highbury.

Strikers
Nicolas ANELKA (Chelsea): Was initially superb after his January move from Bolton but has been out of the starting line-up recently as missed the decisive penalty in the UEFA Champions League Final shoot-out. Quick and clinical but his mental strength will be tested to the full in Euro 2008.

Karim BENZEMA (Lyon): One of two hot young prospects at Lyon along with left-winger and surprise squad omission Hatem Ben Arfa, the best player in the French league could have played for Algeria. Can also play wide left if Domenech goes for an Anelka-Henry partnership up front.

Bafétimbi GOMIS (St-Étienne): The ‘new Drogba’ gave Domenech the nice sort of selection problem when he scored twice on his international début against Ecuador on 27th May and has pushed ended the international come-back of David Trezeguet.

Thierry HENRY (Barcelona): Hasn’t been consistent in his first (and only?) season at the Camp Nou but remains the key to the French front-line. There remain the constant reservations about his ability to perform consistently in high-profile matches. Has never scored in a final of any tournament.

Wish You Were Here?
Philippe MEXÈS (Roma): What does he have to do to get into a tournament squad? Has had another fine season in Rome and is surely a far superior alternative to his former Auxerre defensive partner Boumsong.

David TREZEGUET (Juventus): Twenty goals in Serie A alone this season are not enough to get him back into the French squad on a permanent basis after playing poorly on his international come-back against England in March.

Tags: Claude Makelele, Euro 2008, France, Karim Benzema, Lassana Diarra, Nicolas Anelka, Patrice Evra, Raymond Domenech, Samir Nasri, Thierry Henry

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