Abidal in but Toulalan still out for ´Les Bleus´

France coach Laurent Blanc on Wednesday recalled Barcelona defender Eric Abidal but left out Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan from his 22-man squad for the friendly against England.

France face England on November 17 in London and Abidal, who has not played for Les Bleus since their catastrophic World Cup campaign, has been given the nod following several solid performances on the left side for Barcelona.

Toulalan has recently returned to his traditional defensive midfield position for Lyon after a spell in defence, however even that move has not convinced Blanc who has opted to leave him out.

The French Football Federation (FFF) sanctioned Toulalan for his role in the infamous players’ strike during the World Cup, and while he has purged his three match ban Blanc refuted suggestions he was still paying the price for his actions.

“It’s only fairly recently that he’s started training again and been part of the (Lyon) squad,” added Blanc.

“There is no black mark against the name of Jeremy Toulalan. It’s still possible he’ll be called up. Not this time, but maybe next time.”

The other big midfield loser on the day was Lassana Diarra, who appears to be paying the price for his lack of playing time at Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho.

Abidal was one of five France players who appeared at a French Football Federation (FFF) hearing to answer charges of mutiny during the World Cup in South Africa, and emerged as the only player not to be sanctioned with match suspensions.

It means the 31-year-old will pick up his 51st cap against England.

Blanc did not confirm whether Abidal would start or not but said the big defender had a chance to make the left back position his own

“Let’s be quite clear. He (Abidal) has been recalled to play in the left back position. He’s recently been playing a lot in this position at Barcelona, and that counts for a lot,” said Blanc.

“He’s still in with a good shout of securing a more permanent place in the team.”

The England fixture will give Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, one of four players sanctioned with match suspensions, the chance to sit out the last match in a five-match ban from the FFF.

The other players suspended were Franck Ribery (three matches), Nicolas Anelka (18 matches) and Toulalan (one match).

While Anelka’s France career now looks dead and buried — after he was handed an 18-match ban for verbally abusing former coach Raymond Domenech — Ribery has purged his suspension but is still recovering from injury.

Among the other notable absentees are Abou Diaby (Arsenal) and Blaise Matuidi (Saint-Etienne), who are both injured.

There was no place, however, for Andre-Pierre Gignac despite the Marseille striker’s hat-trick in the recent 7-0 drubbing of Zilina.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux)

Defenders: Bakary Sagna (Arsenal), Adil Rami (Lille), Philippe Mexes (Roma/ITA), Mamadou Sakho (Paris SG), Gael Clichy (Arsenal), Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)

Midfielders: Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Yann Mvila (Rennes), Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ENG), Yoann Gourcuff (Lyon), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille), Samir Nasri (Arsenal), Yohan Cabaye (Lille)

Strikers: Kevin Gameiro (Lorient), Guillaume Hoarau (Paris SG), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Loic Remy (Marseille), Dimitri Payet (Saint-Etienne)