Domenech's Future in Balance As France Face World Cup Make-Or-Break

Raymond Domenech sprung a few surprises when naming his squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Lithuania. Selected for the first time are André-Pierre Gignac of Toulouse and Lille’s centre-back Adil Rami.

Gignac is currently the leading scorer in Ligue 1 and scored his eighteenth of the season in a Toulouse’s impressive 4-1 victory over Paris-Saint Germain at the weekend.

Adil Rami takes his place in the squad, profiting from the current injuries to Abidal, Escudé and Boumsong, and could win his first full cap having appeared last year in an ‘A’ international against Mali. Rami recently refused a call-up for Morocco, stating that he didn’t want to completely rule out an international career with les bleus.

Amongst the surprises is also the continued absence of Patrick Vieira, having recently returned from injury for Inter Milan this month. Vieira has only played in one of France’s last fourteen matches (against Uruguay last November) due to injury but now finds himself out of the picture despite his return to fitness.

Arsenal’s Abou Diaby, who made his debut against Lithuania two years ago, is named in midfield and will compete with Alou Diarra, Real Madrid’s Lassana Diarra and Jérémy Toulalan for a central midfield berth.

France face a make-or-break double header against Lithuania in Group 7, first travelling to Kaunas on Saturday 28 March before hosting the return fixture at the Stade de France on Wednesday 1 April.

Domenech currently finds his side in third place in the group, five points behind both Serbia and Lithuania but having played one game less. Their opponents Lithuania have already proved themselves more than a handful with a home win over Austria and an astonishing 3-0 success in Romania.

This is the second successive qualifying campaign that the two nations have faced each other after also being paired together in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group B. Domenech will be keeping his fingers crossed for the same outcome when his French side won both games.

These two qualifiers are the countries only previous meetings. France won 1-0 in Kaunas in March 2007 thanks to a Nicolas Anelka goal. Thierry Henry then became France’s all time record goalscorer when he netted both goals in a 2-0 win in October 2007 at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes.

Domenech needs an absolute minimum of four points from the two games; otherwise he will find his position untenable. However, anything less than two wins could find France having to effectively settle for a play-off place if Serbia continue to win.

23-man France squad for the matches against Lithuania:

Goalkeepers: Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Cédric Carrasso (Toulouse)

Defenders: Adil Rami (Lille), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Rod Fanni (Rennes), William Gallas (Arsenal), Philippe Mexès (AS Rome), Sébastien Squillaci (FC Séville), Gaël Clichy (Arsenal), Patrice Evra (Manchester United)

Midfielders: Abou Diaby (Arsenal), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Jérémy Toulalan (Lyon), Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Samir Nasri (Arsenal)

Forwards: André-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Thierry Henry (Barcelone), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Jimmy Briand (Rennes)