France captain, Ribery out of World Cup squad

France's star man Franck Ribery is out of the World Cup after failing to recover from a back injury.

Ribery and Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier have both been forced to pull out of the squad.

Bayern Munich winger Ribery has been struggling to recover from a back injury and had only been able to follow an individual fitness programme until he joined the squad for training today.

The 80-cap winger is an integral member of Deschamps' side and he will be sorely missed at the World Cup.

Uncapped Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin and Montpellier winger Remy Cabella, who has one cap, have been called up to the reserve list as cover.

Deschamps admitted Ribery's absence is a major setback, with the winger having scored 16 international goals. Only Karim Benzema with 19 has reached double figures in goals for France in the squad.

He said: '(Ribery) stopped with a strong pain.

'He had tests early in the afternoon which unfortunately confirmed the severity of the situation, that he will be unavailable for several weeks.

'We know what Franck is capable of. With Franck Ribery at 100 per cent, we are better.

'But we have to be ambitious and we will continue to be.'

Ribery, Grenier and the rest of the French squad were at the Clairefontaine national academy near Paris for training and for their official World Cup photo.

However, Grenier limped out of training on Thursday, forcing him to pull out.

The playmaker - a reported target of Newcastle United - missed much of the Ligue 1 run-in with a groin problem but now has an adductor injury.

'He had a groin problem with his club but he participated in the last match,' said Deschamps.

'He came with us and participated in the training sessions and in the match against Norway.

'On Wednesday he trained as normal, Thursday morning as well, but on Thursday afternoon in the game, he suffered a terrible blow and felt pain in his right adductor.

'He had an MRI scan, which unfortunately again confirmed he will be incapacitated for several weeks, he will not be able to train or, evidently, to play.

'We submitted to FIFA the two medical documents and we decided to call up Morgan Schneiderlin and Remy Cabella.

'The two players were on the reserve list and they are similar to the two players who left us.

'You cannot copy them exactly but Morgan Schneiderlin is the player most in the profile of Clement Grenier, and Remy Cabella is the most in the profile of Franck Ribery.'

Deschamps had already been forced to make one change to his squad with injured Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda replaced by St Etienne's Stephane Ruffier.

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