Jeremy Mathieu’s recent form for Valencia has been rewarded with a call-up to Didier Deschamps’ latest France squad.
The full-back, who has been used for parts of this season at centre-back, has returned to Les Bleus’ 23-man squad for early June’s friendlies against Uruguay on the 5th and Brazil on the 9th.
In contention for what would be a second cap at this level on from a November 2011 debut, Mathieu is joined by Valencia teammate Adil Rami, and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema.
Having recently undergone knee surgery, Raphael Varane is not included.
France squad to face Uruguay and Brazil: Mickaël Landreau (Bastia), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marsella), Gaël Clichy (Manchester City), Jérémy Mathieu (Valencia), Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Mamadou Sakho (París Saint-Germain), Eliaquim Mangala (Oporto), Adil Rami (Valencia), Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle), Blaise Matuidi (París Saint-Germains), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Yoann Gourcuff (Olympique de Lyon), Josuha Guilavogui (Saint-Etienne), Samir Nasri (Manchester City) ,Mathieu Valbuena (Olympique de Marsella), Dimitri Payet (Lille), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Bafétimbi Gomis (Olympique de Lyon), Jérémy Ménez (París Saint-Germain)
