France coach Didier Deschamps has hinted that Samir Nasri has been left out his latest squad for more than just footballing reasons.
Nasri, 26, expressed his frustration at being overlooked after scoring in Manchester City’s Capital One Cup final win over Sunderland on Sunday.
It had been suggested that Nasri was omitted from the 24-man squad for Wednesday’s friendly against the Netherlands because of his poor display in the first leg of France’s World Cup playoff against Ukraine back in November.
But Deschamps, 45, said that no players were selected based solely on their performance in that 2-0 defeat in Kiev.
#INSERT type:inline END#
"It’s the story of one match but it doesn’t call into question the values or the potential of the players," he said at a news conference ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Spain.
"Even the best players are capable of having a bad game or not playing as well.
"Beyond that, if there’s a player who’s going to be selected or not selected, I’m not paying specific attention to the first leg.
"Otherwise a lot of other players could have been affected. I reflect on an individual basis but also in relation to the state of mind of the squad.
"Of course sporting criteria are the most important but they are not the only ones. There are a lot of others."
When asked directly about Nasri, Deschamps said he had not seen Sunday’s match but that he later saw his goal.
"Players, whoever they are, it’s up to them to perform as well as possible," Deschamps said. "After that, my choices could be more or less difficult for me."