Filed under: France
PARIS (AP) — France coach Laurent Blanc will drop all 23 World Cup players for his first match next month as collective punishment for the team’s embarrassing fiasco in South Africa.
The French federation said Friday in a statement it had granted Blanc permission to suspend the players at the coach’s request.
France was eliminated in the group stage at the World Cup, failing to win a game. The players also refused to train as a protest after Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home following an expletive-laced tirade at then-coach Raymond Domenech.Blanc refused to speak to reporters when he left the federation’s headquarters Friday.
France plays a friendly against Norway on Aug. 11 in Oslo, and Blanc is set to announce his squad Aug. 5.
France’s disappointing performance in South Africa came after the team failed to win a game at the 2008 European Championship, also under Domenech.
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