CLAIREFONTAINE, France (AP)—France’s injury concerns worsened on Wednesday as
Saint-Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi was called up for European Championship
qualifiers against Belarus and Bosnia-Herzegovina in case Karim Benzema and
Yohan Cabaye can’t play.

France coach Laurent Blanc summoned the uncapped player on Wednesday because
Real Madrid striker Benzema and Lille midfielder Cabaye are in doubt for both
games.

The injured Benzema and Cabaye are unable to train and were to undergo
medical tests later Wednesday.

Benzema received a knock on his right ankle during training earlier this
week while Cabaye’s injury remains undisclosed.

Five other players—Loic Remy, Adil Rami, Guillaume Hoarau, Mamadou Sakho
and Abou Diaby—trained apart from the rest of the squad without a ball.

Blanc will be without Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra—who picked up
a hamstring strain last weekend—and the injured Samir Nasri for its Euro 2012
qualifying opener against Belarus on Friday.

France then plays at Bosnia-Herzegovina on Sept. 7.

Lyon playmaker Yoann Gourcuff is not allowed to play after being sent off at
the World Cup while Nicolas Anelka, Patrice Evra, Franck Ribery and Jeremy
Toulalan are unavailable after they were suspended by the French federation
following the squad’s training strike in South Africa.

Matuidi was selected for a friendly against Norway last month but didn’t
play.

About 300 fans attended France’s training session, which was marked by
Zinedine Zidane’s return at the team’s training ground.

Zidane lunched with the players and they watched videos of France’s 1998
World Cup and 2000 European Championship title wins.

The purpose of Zidane’s visit, and that of former France goalkeeper Fabien
Barthez, is Blanc’s way of showing the young players how proud they should be to
represent their country after the debacle in South Africa.

“It can’t do them any harm,” Zidane said. “I spoke to them about my
experiences with the France team.”

Blanc had asked his former France teammate to join the players at training
to give them some extra motivation.

“Everyone knows what he achieved during his career but not everyone knows
the man himself,” Blanc said. “He is an interesting character and the players
will be able to get up close to him.”

Blanc and Zidane were part of the France team which won the 1998 World Cup
and the Euro 2000.

On Friday, France will play its first home game since its World Cup fiasco.

DUBLIN (AP)—Ireland omitted defender Marc Wilson and striker Caleb Folan from
its squad on Friday for next month’s European Championship Group B qualifiers
against Armenia and Andorra.

Otherwise, the 25-man group contained the same players who were called up
for the 1-0 friendly defeat by Argentina earlier this month.

The squad was announced by assistant coach Marco Tardelli, who took charge
of Ireland against Argentina while manager Giovanni Trapattoni was recovering in
hospital after undergoing surgery for an abdominal complaint.

Trapattoni is still recuperating but remains hopeful of taking charge of the
team for the two games in Armenia on Sept. 3 and at home to Andorra four days
later.

“We go into this double header of qualifiers well prepared and confident,
having held a successful training camp in May and played a number of competitive
and challenging friendly matches over the summer,” Tardelli said.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Manchester City), Keiren Westwood (Coventry), Joe
Murphy (Scunthorpe).

Defenders: John O’Shea (Manchester United), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa),
Sean St Ledger (Preston), Greg Cunningham (Manchester City), Kevin Foley
(Wolverhampton), Stephen Kelly (Fulham), Paul McShane (Hull), Darren O’Dea
(Ipswich).

Midfielders: Kevin Kilbane (Hull), Keith Andrews (Blackburn), Glenn Whelan
(Stoke), Darron Gibson (Manchester United), Paul Green (Derby), Liam Lawrence
(Stoke), Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Andy Keogh (Wolves), Damien Duff
(Fulham), Keith Fahey (Birmingham), Keith Treacy (Preston).

Forwards: Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Sean Long
(Reading).

LONDON (AP)—England midfielder David Beckham says he won’t be able to play
again until November, meaning he’ll miss the entire MLS season for the Los
Angeles Galaxy.

Beckham underwent surgery in March after rupturing his Achilles’ tendon
while on loan at AC Milan. He had previously said he expected to be back by
September.

But Beckham said in a video posted Monday on the ABC’s website that he won’t
be running for another three months, and he’ll probably be playing again in
November.

The next time he is likely to be ready to play for England would be in a
European Championship qualifier against Wales on March 26, 2011.