Escudé enters France frame

Sevilla FC defender Julien Escudé is a surprise addition to the France squad for the UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers against Scotland and the Faroe Islands.

Earlier call
The 27-year-old Escudé was called up during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign but has yet to play for his country. He may get his chance as France take on joint Group B leaders Scotland in Glasgow on 7 October, before welcoming the Faroese to Sochaux-Montbeliard four days later. There are no other surprises in the list, with eight of the 20 players coming from French champions and Ligue 1 frontrunners Olympique Lyonnais. Juventus's relegation to Serie B has not dissuaded coach Raymond Domenech from including Jean-Alain Boumsong and David Trezeguet.

France squad
Goalkeepers: Grégory Coupet (Olympique Lyonnais), Mickaël Landreau (Paris Saint-Germain FC).

Defenders: Eric Abidal (Olympique Lyonnais), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Juventus), François Clerc (Olympique Lyonnais), Julien Escudé (Sevilla FC), William Gallas (Arsenal FC), Willy Sagnol (FC Bayern München), Lilian Thuram (FC Barcelona).

Midfielders: Alou Diarra (Olympique Lyonnais), Claude Makelele (Chelsea FC), Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyonnais), Jérémy Toulalan (Olympique Lyonnais), Patrick Vieira (FC Internazionale Milano).

Forwards: Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyonnais), Thierry Henry (Arsenal FC), Franck Ribéry (Olympique de Marseille), Louis Saha (Manchester United FC), David Trezeguet (Juventus), Sylvain Wiltord (Olympique Lyonnais).