Mandanda respects Blanc’s decision

(GSM) – France reserve goalkeeper Steve Mandanda has admitted that everyone involved in France’s World Cup failure should accept their punishment from new coach Laurent Blanc.

Former Bordeaux coach Blanc decided to exclude the entire 23-man squad that featured at the 2010 World Cup from next week’s friendly against Norway in a response to a campaign in South Africa.

France could conjure just one point and one goal through out the campaign, which was marred by a training-ground strike by the whole squad two days before the final group game against the host nation.

Marseille keeper Mandanda told L’Equipe: “We have learned a lot from our mistakes. What we did was b******* and we must abide by the sanction, but it is still a France game and we are of course disappointed not to participate.”

Mandanda urged fans to continue to get behind Les Bleus, and added: “There is no reason why Ligue 1 players should be affected by the backlash of what happened there. This episode was unfortunate, but there is no need for everyone to be mixed up in it.”

Blanc will name his shadow side for the Oslo clash on Thursday, with Mickael Landreau and Stephane Ruffier set to battle for the gloves in the absence of Hugo Lloris, Mandanda and Cedric Carrasso.

Playmaker Jeremy Menez is expected to be included after positive news over a knee injury suffered in Roma’s weekend friendly against Paris St Germain, while PSG quartet Mamadou Sakho, Mathieu Bodmer, Guillaume Hoarau and Christophe Jallet are also in contention for potential international debuts.