Football: France Call Up Kimpembe To Replace Injured Mangala

PARIS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 04th Oct, 2016 ) - France have called up Paris Saint-Germain defender Presnel Kimpembe to replace the injured Eliaquim Mangala for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and the Netherlands, the French Football Federation announced on Monday.

Kimpembe, 21, has previously been wanted by the Democratic Republic of Congo but is a France under-21 cap and his call-up to Didier Deschamps' full squad comes after a start to the season in which he has featured prominently for PSG.

Mangala suffered a hamstring injury playing for Valencia -- where he is on loan from Manchester City -- in their 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday. France host Bulgaria in European World Cup qualifying Group A at the Stade de France on Friday before facing the Netherlands in Amsterdam next Monday.

The Euro 2016 runners-up drew 0-0 away to Belarus in their opening qualifier last month.

Revised France squad Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Steve Mandanda (Crystal Palace/ENG) Defenders: Lucas Digne (Barcelona/ESP), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ENG), Layvin Kurzawa, Presnel Kimpembe (both Paris Saint-Germain), Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao/ESP), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City/ENG), Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid/ESP) Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace/ENG), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea/ENG), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Dimitri Payet (West Ham United/ENG), Paul Pogba (Manchester United/ENG), Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG) Forwards: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich/GER), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Kevin Gameiro (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres/MEX), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Anthony Martial (Manchester United/ENG)