Makelele and Thuram boost France

Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram have been named in the France squad for the back-to-back UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers against Georgia and Italy at the beginning of September.

Experienced lift
The experienced pair had been expected to retire after Les Bleus' defeat in the FIFA World Cup final, but the 34-year-old Thuram announced last night he would "be available in Georgia on 2 September and then for the rest of the qualifiers". Makelele, 33, has apparently followed suit and coach Raymond Domenech will hope their inclusion can inspire a strong start to their Group B campaign. After kicking off in Tbilisi, France return to Paris four days later to face Italy in a repeat of the World Cup final. There is no place for FC Girondins de Bordeaux midfielder Julien Faubert, despite his late winner in last week's friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

France squad
Goalkeepers: Grégory Coupet (Olympique Lyonnais), Mickaël Landreau (Paris Saint-Germain FC).

Defenders: Eric Abidal (Olympique Lyonnais), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Juventus), François Clerc (Olympique Lyonnais), William Gallas (Chelsea FC), Gaël Givet (AS Monaco FC), Willy Sagnol (FC Bayern München), Lilian Thuram (FC Barcelona).

Midfielders: Alou Diarra (Olympique Lyonnais), Claude Makelele (Chelsea FC), Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyonnais), Rio Antonio Mavuba (FC Girondins de Bordeaux), Patrick Vieira (FC Internazionale Milano).

Forwards: Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyonnais), Thierry Henry (Arsenal FC), Franck Ribéry (Olympique de Marseille), Louis Saha (Manchester United FC), David Trezeguet (Juventus), Sylvain Wiltord (Olympique Lyonnais).