Vieira dropped from French squad
Thursday, 19 March 2009 14:25France captain Patrick Vieira has failed to make Les Bleus' 23-man squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Lithuania.
The Inter Milan midfielder is struggling for form at the moment and has not been included for his country's crunch double-header in Group Seven.
But free-scoring Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac is called up for the first time while Lille centre-back Adil Rami and Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby also return.
France are third in the pool, five points behind joint-leaders Lithuania, who have played a game more.
The first match between the two countries comes a week on Saturday in Kaunas, with the return game taking place at the Stade de France the following Wednesday.
FRANCE squad for their World Cup qualifying matches against Lithuania on 28 March and 1 April:
Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Cedric Carrasso (Toulouse); Adil Rami (Lille), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Rod Fanni (Rennes), William Gallas (Arsenal), Philippe Mexes (Roma), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla), Gael Clichy (Arsenal), Patrice Evra (Manchester United); Abou Diaby (Arsenal), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Samir Nasri (Arsenal); Andre-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Jimmy Briand (Rennes).
