PARIS: Thierry Henry named Bayern Munich’s new midfielder Michael Olise as well as former Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette in his final 18-man France squad for their home Olympics but Paris St-Germain’s Warren Zaire-Emery was left out.

The Olympic tournament features under 23 squads with teams allowed to include a maximum of three overage players. Henry has selected Lacazette, 33, Jean-Philippe Mateta, 27, and Loic Bade, 24, as his three overage squad members.

PSG’s Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barcola had been included in the preliminary list but did appear on the final roster. Media reports in France said PSG were reluctant for their players to play in the competition, which falls outside the FIFA window.

France, who won gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, play their first Group ‘A’ game against the US on July 24, before facing Guinea and New Zealand.

Squad: Goalkeepers: Obed Nkambadio, Guillaume Restes; Defenders: Loic Bade, Bradley Locko, Castello Lukeba, Soungoutou Magassa, Kiliann Sildillia, Adrien Truffert; Midfielders: Maghnes Akliouche, Joris Chotard, Desire Doue, Manu Kone, Enzo Millot; Forwards: Rayan Cherki, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Alexandre Lacazette, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Michael Olise; Reserves: Theo De Percin, Andy Diouf, Chrislain Matsima, Lesley Ugochukwu.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2024