Marseille star Dimitri Payet was left out of France’s World Cup squad announced by coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday, completing a miserable 24 hours for the play maker. “Dimitri Payet was a serious candidate for a place in the squad. Elsewhere, Manchester City left-back Benjamin Mendy was called up despite having hardly featured for Pep Guardiola’s side since returning from a serious knee injury. Key names such as goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud and young Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe all feature. I have put my faith in players who have responded to that, and the squad comes before everything else,” Deschamps said.

Source: Punch May 17, 2018 19:52 UTC