Pires absent for France
France coach Raymond Domenech has again left Robert Pires out of his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and the Republic of Ireland.
Zinedine Zidane, Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram are all included for their first competitive matches for Les Bleus since Euro 2004.
All three had quit after that tournament but came out of international retirement earlier this month for the friendly with the Ivory Coast.
They heeded Domenech’s call to bail out the French who are facing a battle to qualify for next year's World Cup.
However Pires remains out of favour with Domenech, the pair having fallen out in a row over a T-shirt.
Pires was fined last year after wearing a Puma top to a France press conference, as the national team are sponsored by adidas.
He hit out at Domenech and the French FA for imposing such a punishment and has not played for his country since last October.
There is a strong Premiership presence, however, with Newcastle’s Jean-Alain Boumsong, Chelsea's William Gallas and Claude Makelele, Arsenal’s Thierry Henry and Liverpool’s Djibril Cisse all included, while former Gunners Patrick Vieira and Sylvain Wiltord have also been selected.
France squad for matches against Faroe Islands (September 3, Lens) and Republic of Ireland (September 7, Dublin): Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Mickael Landreau (Nantes); Jean-Alain Boumsong (Newcastle), William Gallas (Chelsea), Gael Givet (Monaco), Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Sebastien Squillaci (Monaco), Lilian Thuram (Juventus), Jonathan Zebina (Juventus); Vikash Dhorasoo (Paris St Germain), Alou Diarra (Lens), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Jerome Rothen (Paris St Germain), Patrick Vieira (Juventus), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid); Djibril Cisse (Liverpool), Ludovic Giuly (Barcelona), Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Florent Malouda (Lyon), Sylvain Wiltord (Lyon).
