France pick Malouda to face Mexico

France coach Raymond Domenech included Chelsea striker Florent Malouda in his starting line-up for a World Cup Group A match against Mexico Thursday.

Malouda replaced Yoann Gourcuff for the final 15 minutes of a dour, goalless draw with Uruguay in Cape Town last Friday amid media rumours of a heated row with a coach who gives way to Laurent Blanc after this tournament.

A member of the Chelsea 2010 double-winning squad, Malouda also denied the omission from the Uruguay game was due to differences with the coach over his position in the line-up.

Tradition favoured France ahead of the Peter Mokaba Stadium showdown as they have won five of six matches against the Mexicans and drawn the other, scoring 15 goals and conceding four.

Mexico also made one change with Hector Morena, who played no part in the 1-1 stalemate against South Africa six days ago, taking over from Paul Aguilar in defence.

This meant no starting slot again for young Manchester United-bound striker Javier Fernandez, part of what coach Javier Aguirre has labelled the “greatest young generation of Mexican footballers”.

Uruguay top the group with four points from two outings followed by Mexico, France and South Africa with one each although the hosts played a game more and have a minus-three goal difference.

Teams

France: Hugo Lloris – Bakary Sagna, William Gallas, Eric Abidal, Patrick Evra (capt) – Jeremy Toulalan, Abou Diaby – Sidney Govou, Florent Malouda, Franck Ribery – Nicolas Anelka

Coach: Raymond Domenech

Mexico: Oscar Perez – Hector Morena, Ricardo Osorio, Francisco Rodriguez – Carlos Salcido, Efrain Juarez, Rafael Marquez (capt), Gerardo Torrado – Giovani dos Santos, Guillermo Franco, Carlos Vela

Coach: Javier Aguirre

Referee: Khalil al-Ghamdi (KSA)