Touting for a place

Marseille’s French midfielder Franck Ribery has been talking about his hopes of making the 23-man World Cup squad after he helped his club beat Lyon in the Coupe de France quarterfinals.

Ribery’s started every league game this season for Marseille and feels his form is picking up again after the winter break, saying ‘I feel much better than when we first came back after the New Year.’
Raymond Domenech was in the crowd in Lyon for the game and Ribery said he hoped the coach appreciated his performance and added ‘ I still believe I have a chance to play with Les Bleus, I will do my best to go to Germany.’

Why not take him, he’s 23, is meant to be a good dribbler and winger and France could use a spare set of young legs in case some of the golden oldies start running out of steam.
One strange thing he says when talking about Marseille is ‘I feel a little like the fans’ pet’. Hope that doesn’t mean they kick him like a dog when things go wrong.