Euro 2012: France turn to Clichy and Menez against Ukraine
Laurent Blanc made two changes to his France line-up for their second game against Ukraine at Euro 2012, with Gael Clichy and Jeremy Menez both coming into the team for the Group D match.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: June 15, 2012 09:11 pm IST
Laurent Blanc made two changes to his France line-up for their second game against Ukraine at Euro 2012, with Gael Clichy and Jeremy Menez both coming into the team for the Group D match.
Clichy replaced Patrice Evra at left-back, with Paris Saint-Germain winger Menez taking over from Florent Malouda.
Alou Diarra retained his place in central midfield despite competition from the fit-again Yann M'Vila, while Samir Nasri looked set to adopt a central playmaking role after his man-of-the-match turn in the 1-1 draw with England.
After claiming both goals in Ukraine's opening 2-1 victory over Sweden in Kiev, national icon Andriy Shevchenko held on to his place up front alongside former Liverpool striker Andrei Voronin.
Despite having hinted that he might make changes to his starting line-up, Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin kept faith with the 11 players who started in the win against Sweden.
Starting line-ups for the Euro 2012 Group D match between Ukraine and France at Donbass Arena here on Friday:
Ukraine (4-4-2)
Andrei Pyatov; Oleg Gusev, Taras Mikhalik, Yevgeny Khacheridi, Yevgeny Selin; Andrei Yarmolenko, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Sergei Nazarenko, Yevgeny Konoplyanka; Andrei Shevchenko (capt), Andrei Voronin
Coach: Oleg Blokhin
France (4-2-3-1)
Hugo Lloris (capt); Mathieu Debuchy, Adil Rami, Philippe Mexes, Gael Clichy; Yohan Cabaye, Alou Diarra; Jeremy Menez, Samir Nasri, Franck Ribery; Karim Benzema
Coach: Laurent Blanc
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)