France suffers major World Cup blow as Ribery ruled out

By Reuters - Jun 07,2014 - Last updated at Jun 07,2014

PARIS — France's World Cup chances suffered a severe blow when influential winger Franck Ribery was ruled out with lower back problems on Friday. Coach Didier Deschamps also said that attacking midfielder Clement Grenier was out of the finals in Brazil with a groin problem as Les Bleus suffered their third injury since the 23-man squad was unveiled. Second-choice goalkeeper Steve Mandanda also pulled out. Ribery and Grenier will be replaced in the squad by Morgan Schneiderlin and Remy Cabella. The replacements have to be validated by world governing body FIFA as they are made after the 23-man squad submission deadline, which was on June 2. "We will hand over those two files and they will take the time they need to reply," said Deschamps.

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