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Makelele's inclusion triggers a controversy
France's players warmly welcomed the return of influential midfielder Claude Makelele for their two opening Euro 2008 qualifying matches against Georgia and world champions Italy.
France's players warmly welcomed the return of influential midfielder Claude Makelele for their two opening Euro 2008 qualifying matches against Georgia and world champions Italy.
Makelele's inclusion in the squad triggered a controversy between his club Chelsea and the French coach Raymond Domenech.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, said that the 33-year-old was being treated like "a slave" rather than a footballer by Domenech after the player expressed his wish to retire from the national side.
"I don't want to make any comment about the decision of the coach to pick Claude for the next two matches but it's great to have him back in the squad," said midfielder Alou Diarra.
"We lived with him for a month during the World Cup and everybody is happy to have him here," he said. "He looks like he is rather glad to be with us.
"He has a huge experience and he can be of some great help for this qualifying campaign", said striker Louis Saha.
"He came here on his own will and from what I could see he didn't drag his feet," said defender Jean-Alain Boumsong.
"He obviously likes playing for France. It would be a paradoxical situation if a national squad decided to leave aside a player who does great with his club.
"There must be a way to set up a fair agreement for both sides. But 'slave' is too strong a word," he said.
PROTECTION
Mourinho appeared particularly upset by the decision of Domenech to recall Makelele, one of France's key players during the World Cup finals in the summer.
"Makelele is not a football player, Makelele is a slave," Mourinho told Sky Sports after Sunday's 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers.
"He's played in the biggest game you can, the World Cup final, and now he wants to retire but the coach told us if he does not play for France, he won't be playing for Chelsea," he added.
Domenech said on Tuesday he had the right to pick the midfielder and stressed he saw no reason for him not to do so.
"It's my job and my duty to help the team work and live," Domenech told a news conference. "I'm here to protect my team and it's what I'm doing.
"Truly, I can understand the point of the clubs but the rules are perfectly clear and they guarantee the protection of the national squads," he said.
Under FIFA rules, if Makelele had refused to play for France he could have been suspended from playing for Chelsea.
The midfielder joined the rest of the squad at the Clairefontaine's head training camp on Monday evening but he didn't turn up at Tuesday's press conference.
