Guillaume Hoarau stands for Les Bleus with pride

With Nicolas Anelka out Guillaume Hoarau has finally received his long overdue call-up to Raymond Domenech's Les Bleus. The twenty-five year-old striker joins André-Pierre Gignac, Cédric Carrasso and Adil Rami in their introduction to representing France in international competition.

Reflecting on a day trip to Disneyland® Paris with former Le Havre team-mates Lassana Diarra and Steve Mandanda, he said::

"It was nice to see the others again. On Monday the three of us were sitting on a ride and it was really odd. A few years ago we were all there in Normandie playing together.

"When I arrived my eyes immediately looked for Gignac and I saw that he was right at home. The atmosphere here is terrific. Everyone's smiling. For a newcomer that's great.

"I'm very happy to be here, and very proud too. Getting the call shows me just how much ground I've covered. Not so long ago I was many miles away from the France squad. Now I have to get off my cloud very quickly and focus as we've got two important matches to play."