Abidal and Nasri get France recalls

PARIS. Eric Abidal has been recalled to the France team to face Belgium on Wednesday night 18 months after he last featured for Les Bleus.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

PARIS. Eric Abidal has been recalled to the France team to face Belgium on Wednesday night 18 months after he last featured for Les Bleus.The full-back was diagnosed with liver cancer in March 2011 and, despite making a recovery, had to undergo a transplant in April of last year before returning to action for Barcelona in April. He completed a move from Barça to Monaco this summer and will now be hoping to earn his 62nd France cap against Belgium.Sevilla midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia - who recently featured in France’s FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 triumph - has also been selected in Didier Deschamps’ 23-man squad and is in line for a senior debut while Samir Nasri could make his first appearance since UEFA EURO 2012.Speaking at a press conference, Deschamps said of Abidal: "After discussing it at length with him, I decided to call him back. You know his history, his arrival in Monaco, his performances during the warm-up matches."There are also injuries with (Raphael) Varane out with his meniscus and (Mamadou) Sakho is struggling at the moment. Abidal, more importantly, is competitive and has a deep and strong desire to represent his country.”