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Zidane left out of France team

June 02, 2003 15:32 IST

Zinedine Zidane was left out of France's 23-man Confederations Cup squad announced by coach Jacques Santini on Monday.

The defending champions will also be without Zidane's Real Madrid team mate Claude Makelele for the June 18-29 tournament as the pair will be tied up in the title race in Spain.

France will be without two more midfielders in injured duo Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira. Juventus striker David Trezeguet, needing a rest after a long, injury-plagued season, had already pulled out of the competition.

Santini has given a first call-up to Atalanta midfielder Ousmane Dabo and AJ Auxerre defender Jean-Alain Boumsong, who scored the winner in his club's 2-1 French Cup final victory over Paris St Germain on Saturday.

The squad will assemble at France's Clairefontaine training camp outside Paris on June 11. They are in group A with New Zealand, Japan and Colombia.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Fabien Barthez (Manchester United), Gregory Coupet (Olympique Lyon), Mickael Landreau (Nantes)

Defenders: Jean-Alain Boumsong, Philippe Mexes (both AJ Auxerre), Marcel Desailly, William Gallas (both Chelsea), Bixente Lizarazu, Willy Sagnol (both Bayern Munich), Mikael Silvestre (Manchester United), Lilian Thuram (Juventus)

Midfielders: Ousmane Dabo (Atalanta), Olivier Dacourt (AS Roma), Ludovic Giuly, Jerome Rothen (Monaco), Olivier Kapo (AJ Auxerre), Benoit Pedretti (Sochaux), Robert Pires, Sylvain Wiltord (both Arsenal)

Strikers: Djibril Cisse (AJ Auxerre), Sydney Govou (Olympique Lyon), Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Steve Marlet (Fulham

Source: REUTERS
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