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Yanga-Mbiwa and Gourcuff cut by Blanc

Gourcuff and Montpellier centre-back Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa were dropped from a preliminary list of 25 as Blanc decided to travel to Ukraine with seven defenders and no recognised playmaker.

Gourcuff had been named in a preliminary squad in spite of a mediocre domestic season, but he failed to impress in a 3-2 friendly win against Iceland on Sunday.

Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Samir Nasri (Manchester City), Alou Diarra (Olympique Marseille), Yann M'vila (Stade Rennes), Marvin Martin (Sochaux), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain).