Monaco sensation Mbappe earns first call in France football squad

Paris March 17 (IANS) Teenage striker Kylian Mbappe got the nod from France s football squad for the first time as head coach Didier Deschamp named a 24-member squad here.

Mbappe who scored 11 goals in his last 11 appearances for Monaco on Wednesday helped the Ligue 1 club eliminate Manchester City in the Champions League last 16 with his opening goal.

Quality doesn t have an age. We have already chosen many young players before him and I think it s a good time commented Deschamp on Thursday.

France will visit Luxembourg in the 2018 World Cup qualifications on March 25 and host Spain in a friendly three days later.

Mbappe joined his Monaco teammate Benjamin Mendy Florian Thauvin of Marseille and Corentin Tolisso of Lyon as four newcomers to the national squad.

Ligue 1 defending champions Paris Saint-Germain contributed five players to Deschamp s newly-selected roster followed by leaders Monaco who had four promising stars in.

France lead World Cup qualifying Group A by three points after recording three wins and one draw in previous rounds.

France squad:

Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain) Benoit Costil (Rennes) Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur)

Defenders: Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain) Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) Layvin Kurzawa (Paris Saint-Germain) Benjamin Mendy (Monaco) Adil Rami (Sevilla) Bacary Sagna (Manchester City) Djibril Sidibe (Monaco) Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona)

Midfielders: N Golo Kante (Chelsea) Thomas Lemar (Monaco) Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain) Paul Pogba (Manchester United) Adrien Rabiot (Paris Saint-Germain) Corentin Tolisso (Lyon)

Forwards: Ousmane Dembele (Borussia Dortmund) Kevin Gameiro (Atletico Madrid) Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) Kylian Mbappe (Monaco) Dimitri Payet (Marseille) Florian Thauvin (Marseille).

--IANS
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