The Team for France Argentina

After all of Raymond Domenech’s talk about going into Euro 2008 with “young players,” I guess the biggest surprise of the France-Argentina list is how few surprises it contains. NO new players. Not one.

Lilian Thuram is on the list despite his injury, and Gaël Givet is back from post-World Cup purgatory. That’s pretty much it as far as the unexpected on defense. Julien Escudé, François Clerc, Sébastien Squillaci and Philippe Mexès earned returns, as did one of my favorite players, Patrice Evra. They’re joining the expected old-timers Eric Abidal, Thuram and Willy Sagnol. This is a pretty new and much younger defense, so I’d expect to see a lot of substitutions in the game as Domenech tries to get the mix right.

The one big surprise for me is that striker Louis Saha isn’t on the list. I thought he was having a pretty good year for ManU. Did he pick up an injury? Or was this Domenech’s sympathy thing for Trézéguet the Argentinian? (And if so…well… Go, Raymond!)

In a positional shift, Sydney Govou, Florent Malouda and Franck Ribéry — all attacking midfielders from previous lists — are now listed as forwards. A semantic difference, or shift in tactics? Any chance we’ll see 4-3-3? (And could this possibly be a response to December’s anonymous criticism that Henry plays alone up front?)

Raymond’s thoughts on his attaquant choices: “Concerning the attack, there’s not a hierarchy. Each [player] must prove his value with every match. The association between Djibril Cissé and Franck Ribéry could be interesting. Both have come back well after being injured . But others can claim a place in the group. I’m thinking in particular of Nicolas Anelka, who knew to seize his chance. The same thing for David Trézéguet. Everyone knows his talent.”

If you think back to Christmas, you’ll remember that the one thing I asked Santa for was an Anelka-Trézéguet pairing up front. I didn’t think there was much chance. But now… Well, if it’s going to happen, this would be the game, right? Love Anelka, love Trézéguet. So I’m crossing my fingers.

Here’s the complete list:

Goalkeepers
23 Grégory COUPET Olympique Lyonnais
1 Mickaël LANDREAU Paris SG

Defenders
3 Eric ABIDAL Olympique Lyonnais
13 François CLERC Olympique Lyonnais
21 Julien ESCUDE F.C. Seville
2 Patrice EVRA Manchester United
17 Gaël GIVET A.S. Monaco
5 Philippe MEXES AS Rome
19 Willy SAGNOL Bayern Münich
18 Sébastien SQUILLACI Olympique Lyonnais
15 Lilian THURAM FC Barcelone

Midfielders
6 Claude MAKELELE Chelsea F. C.
14 Rio Antonio MAVUBA Girondins de Bordeaux
8 Jérémy TOULALAN Olympique Lyonnais
4 Patrick VIEIRA Inter Milan

Attaquants
39 Nicolas ANELKA Bolton Wanderers
10 Djibril CISSE Olympique de Marseille
9 Sidney GOVOU Olympique Lyonnais
12 Thierry HENRY Arsenal F.C.
7 Florent MALOUDA Olympique Lyonnais
22 Franck RIBERY Olympique de Marseille
20 David TREZEGUET Juventus Turin