Trezeguet left out of France's Euro squad

Former World Cup and European Championship winner David Trezeguet will play no part in Euro 2008 after being left out of France's provisional squad.

France coach Raymond Domenech, who has had a difficult relationship with Trezeguet, did not pick the Juventus striker in a 30-man list announced yesterday.

Seven names will be dropped before the May 28 deadline to name the final 23-man squad for the June 7-29 tournament in Austria and Switzerland.

"I would have liked to proceed differently but I had to call more players because nearly half of them still have finals to play," said Domenech, pointing to the Champions League, French Cup and Italian Cup finals.

A member of France's 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000-winning squads, the 30-year-old Trezeguet has scored 34 goals in 71 internationals, third on his country's all-time list behind Thierry Henry and Michel Platini.

But Domenech has called on Trezeguet only five times since the 2006 World Cup final, which France lost to Italy on penalties.

Instead of Trezeguet, Domenech picked St Etienne forward Bafetimbi Gomis. Scorer of 16 Ligue 1 goals this season, Gomis is the only real surprise on the list and one of two uncapped players, along with reserve goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

Trezeguet, who scored 20 goals for Juventus this term, has been pushed further down the pecking order by Olympique Lyon's 20-year-old striker Karim Benzema, Ligue 1's top scorer with 20 goals and now an automatic choice for Domenech.

Before the 1998 World Cup, then France coach Aime Jacquet also named a provisional list before sending six players home at the last minute.

"Everybody remembers 1998 and the problem it was then but everybody also remembers that we won the World Cup," Domenech said.

France were drawn with Italy, the Netherlands and Romania in a tough Group C.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Coupet (Lyon), Frey (Fiorentina), Landreau (Paris SG), Mandanda (Marseille).

Defenders: Abidal (Barcelona), Boumsong (Lyon), Clerc (Lyon), Squillaci (Lyon), Gallas (Arsenal), Escude (Sevilla), Evra (Manchester United), Mexes (Roma), Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Thuram (Barcelona).

Midfielders: A. Diarra (Bordeaux), L. Diarra (Portsmouth), Flamini (Arsenal), Makelele (Chelsea), Toulalan (Lyon), Vieira (Inter).

Forwards: Anelka (Chelsea), Ben Arfa (Lyon), Benzema (Lyon), Govou (Lyon), Cisse (Marseille), Nasri (Marseille), Gomis (St Etienne), Henry (Barcelona), Malouda (Chelsea), Ribery (Bayern Munich).