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New French national team coach Laurent Blanc has suspended the entire 23 man World Cup roster for an upcoming friendly match against Norway next month.  Under former skipper Raymond Demenech the French were lucky just to qualify for the World Cup and were embarrassed in South Africa after going win less amidst in house controversy.

The drama started to unfold when striker Nicolas Anelka and Demenech were involved in a heated exchange in the locker room at halftime of the Mexico match.  Anelka was then sent home by the French Football Federation for his actions which did not suit well with the rest of the team.

The team decided to protest the decision to send Anelka home by not training which led to more team controversy.  There have been a few French players who have publicly stated that this was a stupid decision.

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was quoted in L’Equipe: ”We acted as a team,  To strike was the decision of a squad who felt lonely, who believed that no one had stood up for them and who had a message to convey. We went too far. It was a very awkward decision, a big mistake. It was completely stupid. But there were so many problems.”

It is understandable to want to send a message to these players, but to suspend the entire team does not make much sense.  With a great nucleus of young players to choose from France will still be a top team when they face off with Norway.  Blanc will choose his young squad wisely to see who can come in and change the mentality of this broken team.