Benzema back for France against Bosnia
Reuters - Saturday 04 September 2010, 15:21
CLAIREFONTAINE - New France coach
Laurent Blanc's problems worsened on Saturday with the news that
strikers Guillaume Hoarau, Loic Remy and Louis Saha would be
unavailable to play Bosnia on Tuesday because of injuries.
Hoarau (shoulder), Remy (groin) and Saha (calf) were all
hurt in a shock 1-0 home defeat by Belarus in France's opening
Euro 2012 qualifier on Friday at Stade de France, the French
Football Federation (FFF) said in a statement.
Blanc, who bemoaned France's lack of punch up front against
Belarus, has so far called just one new striker, Jimmy Briand,
into his squad for France's second Group D game in Sarajevo.
Briand, 25, joined Lyon from Ligue 1 rivals Stade Rennes
during the close season. He has four caps for France.
There was some good news for Blanc on Saturday, with striker
Karim Benzema fit to play against Bosnia after missing the match
against Belarus because of an ankle injury.
"Karim participated in a full training session this morning
and he will be available," Blanc told a news conference at
France's base outside Paris.
Blanc replaced Raymond Domenech after the World Cup fiasco.
Friday's game was France's first competitive match under his
guidance.
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