PARIS, May 18 (Reuters) - Former World Cup and European Championship winner David Trezeguet will play no part in Euro 2008 after being left out of France's provisional squad.
France coach Raymond Domenech, who has had a difficult
relationship with Trezeguet, did not pick the Juventus striker
in a 30-man list announced on Sunday.
Seven names will be dropped before the May 28 deadline to
name the final 23-man squad for the June 7-29 tournament in
Austria and Switzerland.
'I would have liked to proceed differently but I had to
call more players because nearly half the players on the list
still have finals to play,' said Domenech, pointing to the
Champions League, French Cup and Italian Cup finals.
A member of France's 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000-winning
squads, the 30-year-old Trezeguet has scored 34 goals in 71
internationals, third on his country's all-time list behind
Thierry Henry and Michel Platini.
But Domenech has called on Trezeguet only five times since
the 2006 World Cup final, which France lost to Italy on
penalties.
'If you decide to pick four or five centre forwards, you
don't have that many options and you have to make choices,'
Domenech told a news conference.
'It's never easy to wake up having to cross names from a
list.'
Instead of Trezeguet, Domenech picked St Etienne forward
Bafetimbi Gomis. Scorer of 16 Ligue 1 goals this season, Gomis
is the only real surprise on the list and one of two uncapped
players, along with reserve goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
Trezeguet, who scored 20 goals for Juventus this term, has
been pushed further down the pecking order by Olympique Lyon's
20-year-old striker Karim Benzema, Ligue 1's top scorer with 20
goals and now an automatic choice for Domenech.
Before the 1998 World Cup, then France coach Aime Jacquet
also named a provisional list before sending six players home
at the last minute.
'Everybody remembers 1998 and the problem it was then but
everybody also remembers that we won the World Cup,' Domenech
said.
France were drawn with Italy, the Netherlands and Romania
in a tough Group C.
Squad:Goalkeepers: Gregory Coupet (Olympique Lyon), Sebastien
Frey (Fiorentina), Mickael Landreau (Paris St Germain), Steve
Mandanda (Olympique Marseille).
Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Jean-Alain Boumsong
(Lyon), Francois Clerc (Lyon), Sebastien Squillaci (Lyon),
William Gallas (Arsenal), Julien Escude (Sevilla), Patrice Evra
(Manchester United), Philippe Mexes (AS Roma), Willy Sagnol
(Bayern Munich), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona).
Midfielders: Alou Diarra (Girondins Bordeaux), Lassana
Diarra (Portsmouth), Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal), Claude Makelele
(Chelsea), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Patrick Vieira (Inter
Milan).
Forwards: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Hatem Ben Arfa (Lyon),
Karim Benzema (Lyon), Sidney Govou (Lyon), Djibril Cisse
(Marseille), Samir Nasri (Marseille), Bafetimbi Gomis (St
Etienne), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Florent Malouda (Chelsea),
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich).
