Gomis back in to France squad
PARIS - Olympique Lyon forward Bafetimbi Gomis returned to the France set-up for the first time in almost two years on Thursday when he was the only addition to the squad for October's Euro 2012 qualifying matches at home to Albania and Bosnia.
Laurent Blanc's men, who top Group D by a point from Bosnia with just next Friday and the October 11 games left, will look to quickly wrap up qualification for next year's finals in Ukraine and Poland.
Gomis, who has five caps, is Ligue 1's top scorer with six goals and scored with an exquisite strike in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
He replaced injured forward Guillaume Hoarau in the only change to the squad which won 2-1 in Albania and drew 0-0 in Romania this month, meaning in-form Montpellier forward Olivier Giroud misses out.
"It was obvious from what he has been doing at the start of the season that he is a player full of confidence," Blanc told reporters about the tall but athletic Gomis, whose last game for France was in October 2009.
"We said last time he was not far from the France squad. The team is always open to players with confidence and all those who could give us something extra."
Striker Karim Benzema has a slight knock but was included.
Uncapped centre-back Laurent Koscielny was again called up with Philippe Mexes and Mamadou Sakho still injured.
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Squad:
Goalkeepers: Cedric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille)
Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Younes Kaboul (Tottenham Hotspur), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Adil Rami (Valencia), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal).
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United), Alou Diarra (Marseille), Yann M'Vila (Stade Rennes), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Marvin Martin (Sochaux), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Samir Nasri (Manchester City), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kevin Gameiro (Paris Saint-Germain), Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon), Jeremy Menez (Paris Saint-Germain), Loic Remy (Marseille), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)