France replace Cisse with Govou
France have called up Lyon forward Sidney Govou to replace Liverpool's Djibril Cisse, who was ruled out of the World Cup finals on Wednesday.
Cisse broke a leg in the warm-up game with China - after missing most of the 2004-05 campaign with a similar injury.
French team-mate Thierry Henry said: "This is a really bad time for Djibril, for us and for his family. It was hard not to think about it during the game."
Govou, 26, also received a late call-up for France's Euro 2004 squad.
Back then he replaced the then injured Monaco playmaker Ludovic Giuly, who is now at Barcelona and who was surprisingly overlooked for the squad this time around.
Arsenal forward Henry has revealed that the squad hope to visit 24-year-old Cisse, who was rushed to hospital to undergo surgery on his right leg.
"I am sure he will bounce back again," stated Henry. "We will try to find the time to go ahead and see him."
Lyon midfielder Florent Malouda added: "It affected us a lot. It is bad it happened to him again - on the other leg.
"We must support him because he is going to be going through a difficult time."
Juventus defender Lilian Thuram insisted that France will be thinking of Cisse during the tournament in Germany.
He said: "Cisse will not be with us physically at the World Cup but he will be in our hearts."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ce/5059718.stm
