France midfielder Lassana Diarra to miss World Cup because of stomach ailment

Diarra to miss World Cup due to stomach ailment

TIGNES, France — French midfielder Lassana Diarra will miss the World Cup because of a stomach injury.

The Real Madrid midfielder missed his third straight day of training with France’s national team Saturday.

“Of course it’s a blow when you lose a player. It’s even harder because it wasn’t a choice, it’s destiny,” coach Raymond Domenech said. “It’s tough for him because I know how much effort he had put into this World Cup. He was one of the driving forces of this team in terms of the way he played and his attitude.”

Team spokesman Francois Manardo said Diarra first felt intestinal pains when the squad went up to the foot of La Grande Motte glacier on Wednesday, sleeping in a restaurant at around 9,800 feet altitude in a team-bonding exercise, and Diarra has not been able to shake off the pains.

Manardo said Diarra needed to rest for “an indefinite period” of time.

Diarra has played 27 times for France since making his debut just over three years ago.

France coach Raymond Domenech has not yet selected a replacement for Diarra, a regular in the qualifiers. Final 23-man World Cup rosters are due to FIFA by June 1

Two years ago, Domenech selected Patrick Vieira for his European Championship roster even though the midfielder had not fully recovered from a thigh injury.

This time, Domenech will take only fully fit players to South Africa. He hopes defender William Gallas recovers from a calf injury sidelined him for the final weeks of Arsenal’s season in England.

Gallas trained for nearly two hours late Saturday and looked comfortable, moving easily, jumping for headers and not showing any ill effects as he took part in jogging, stretching and passing drills.

Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna had ice put on his left ankle near the end of training, but it appeared to be a precautionary measure.

Domenech paired Diarra alongside Jeremy Toulalan in a highly defensive system throughout the qualifiers, and his absence may force the coach to change his approach at the World Cup. France is grouped with Uruguay, Mexico and host South Africa.

In Saturday training, Domenech seemed already to be exploring his options without Diarra.

The players had a practice match in a loose 4-3-3 system with only one holding midfielder — Toulalan — in front of the defense and behind two central midfielders, Bordeaux’s Yoann Gourcuff and Arsenal’s Abou Diaby.