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The coach of the French national team, Raymond Domenech, announced a list of 23 footballers invited to the European Championship qualifying match of Group B against Lithuania on March 24. In Kaunas, the world champions will have to do without defender Mikael Silvestre and forwards Thierry Henry, whose season has already ended due to injuries. Also unable to help the French team due to injuries are midfielders Patrick Vieira and Franck Ribery. Louis Saha will be recovering from injury until the beginning of April. A total of 9 French footballers represent the "Lyon" club, with five out of nine foreign players playing in England. Composition of the French national team for the match against Lithuania: Goalkeepers: Gregory Coupet ("Lyon"), Mickael Landreau ("P.S.G"). Defenders: Eric Abidal ("Lyon"), Francois Clerc ("Lyon"), Julien Escude ("Sevilla"), William Gallas (London's "Arsenal"), Philippe Mexes ("Roma"), Willy Sagnol (Munich's "Bayern"), Sebastien Squillaci ("Lyon"), Lilian Thuram ("Barcelona"). Midfielders: Abou Diaby (London's "Arsenal"), Lassana Diarra (London's "Chelsea"), Claude Makelele (London's "Chelsea"), Rio Antonio Mavuba ("Bordeaux"), Samir Nasri ("Marseille"), Jeremy Toulalan ("Lyon"). Forwards: Nicolas Anelka ("Bolton"), Karim Benzema ("Lyon"), Djibril Cisse ("Marseille"), Sidney Govou ("Lyon"), Florent Malouda ("Lyon"), Frederic Piquionne ("Monaco"), Sylvain Wiltord ("Lyon").
