Alexandre Lacazette withdrew from the France squad almost immediately after being called up.
With an injury to Anthony Martial, Didier Deschamps finally turned to Alexandre Lacazette after leaving him out of his selection once again.
But it was no sooner announced that Lacazette had been called up to the French squad for their games against the Netherlands (16 November) and Lucas Torreira’s Uruguay (20 November) than it was announced he had to withdraw with what looks like an injury. Initial reports claim it is a slight groin problem.
The French national team account tweeted:
.@LacazetteAlex, ne pourra pas répondre à sa convocation. Cette décision a été prise à l’issue d’un échange entre le Docteur Franck Le Gall et ses homologues d’Arsenal.
Didier Deschamps a donc décidé de faire appel à @alassane_plea (25 ans, Borussia Mönchengladbach). pic.twitter.com/lBLDnZMR2F
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) November 12, 2018
Translated, it basically says, “Alexandre Lacazette will not be able to answer his call-up. This decision was taken after an exchange between Dr. Franck Le Gall and his counterparts at Arsenal. Didier Deschamps therefore decided to call Alassane Plea (25 years old, Borussia Mönchengladbach).”
It is Plea’s first France call-up after scoring 11 goals (with three assists) in 12 games across all competitions this season.
The news will come as yet another massive international blow to Lacazette who has had to fight against Deschamps’ personal dislike of him to get back into the France side. His last cap came almost exactly one year ago – against Germany on 14 November 2017. He scored both France’s goals in that 2-2 draw.
Since then, Lacazette has scored 17 goals (with nine assists) in 51 games, his stats somewhat dampened by the knee injury he suffered during his first season with Arsenal.
This season he has six goals and four assists in 15 games and just nine starts.