France v Cameroon: Cabaye out to prove a point

Yohan Cabaye is determined to issue France coach Didier Deschamps with a timely reminder of his ability when they take on Cameroon on Monday.

The Crystal Palace man faces stiff competition from players such as Lassana Diarra and N’Golo Kante for a place in midfield alongside Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi and did not feature in the wins over Netherlands and Russia in March.

Cabaye did make the 23-man squad for Euro 2016, though, and has vowed to give his all in order to win over Deschamps.

“There is a lot of competition for places, which is a good thing for the team. It is healthy and keeps everyone on their toes,” Cabaye said at a news conference.

“We have 23 players fighting for their place who all have the same objective. We will need every player. You can never take anything for granted in life or in football. You always have to keep pushing forward. I have to show that I am still there.

“Every time I’m out there on the pitch I give everything for the team and for my team-mates. The fact that coaches keep on calling me up for the national team shows they are satisfied with me. Or I would not have been called up. The main thing for me is to make sure I’m good enough to have a chance of making the starting XI.”

Deschamps’ defensive plans have been thrown into disarray with Raphael Varane and Jeremy Mathieu forced to pull out of the 23-man squad for Euro 2016 due to injury, with Adil Rami and Samuel Umtiti named as their replacements.

France will nonetheless be high on confidence heading into the tournament as they have won seven out of their last eight matches, with only England capable of beating Deschamps’ men in November 2015.

After the Cameroon game, they take on Scotland on June 4 before Euro 2016 gets underway with Romania, Albania and Switzerland awaiting in Group A.