France fears over injury to midfielder M’Vila

PARIS - The midfielder Yann M’Vila limped off after five minutes of France’s 2-0 friendly win over Serbia on Thursday after receiving a heavy tackle from behind.The Rennes midfielder was hacked down by the Serbia forward Dusan Tadic one minute into the game. M’Vila, a key player who has been a near ever-present in the France coach Laurent Blanc’s team over the past two years, got back up again and carried on playing.But moments later he made a pass with his left foot and fell down again, clutching his right leg. He was helped off the field by two of France’s medical staff and replaced by Alou Diarra.M’Vila broke down in tears when he was taken off after twisting his right ankle, leaving the stadium on crutches before returning to the bench without them in the second half.France open their European Championship campaign against England on 11 June and Blanc is confident M’Vila will be available for that match.The 21-year-old has played 19 times for France in a deep-lying central midfield role, protecting the defence and using his crisp passing to move the ball out smoothly.“We can think that he will be fit for the first game,” Blanc said. “His participation in the tournament is not in question.”