Ribery vows to repay Blanc faith in him
Franck Ribery, one of the outcasts of the France team after the World Cup farce, has vowed to repay the trust that new coach Laurent Blanc has placed in him.
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"When a coach really trusts me, I will give him everything I have," the Bayern Munich midfielder said on Thursday.
Ribery, who made his international comeback in March after a three-match ban for his part in the off-field drama in South Africa, said he had changed.
"My comeback in the France team was a very good thing for me. Even if I have not played my best games at that moment, the fact that I returned changed a lot of things," Ribery told sports daily L'Equipe in an interview.
"I know I owe them [Blanc and assistant coach Jean-Louis Gasset] a lot," said Ribery, who has been included in the squad to face the United States and Belgium in friendly games on Friday and Tuesday.
"We, [Patrice] Evra and myself, were almost banned from the French team."
France players went on strike at the World Cup in support of striker Nicolas Anelka, who was kicked out of the team for insulting then coach Raymond Domenech.
Anelka was banned for 18 games, captain Evra for five games, Ribery for three and Jeremy Toulalan for one match by the French federation.
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"What the coach did [recalling him] is great. I want to give back on and off the field," Ribery said.
"I want to live with France what I'm experiencing with Bayern."
Ribery has been impressive with Bayern, scoring six goals and setting up as many in his best start since he joined the Bundesliga in 2007.
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