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[caption id="attachment_13960" align="alignnone" width="580"] France announces 23-member squad. Image Source: France Football Federation[/caption] Internet Desk: France coach Didier Deschamps picked seasoned striker Olivier Giroud on Thursday for his 23-man squad for the European soccer championship, which France will host, naming in-form forward Hatem Ben Arfa only as a reserve. Giroud, recovering from a lean spell at Arsenal with a strong finish to the Premier League season, is one of six strikers in the squad alongside Antoine Griezmann, Dimitri Payet, Antony Martial, Kingsley Coman and Andre-Pierre Gignac.

The Real Madrid forward was suspended indefinitely last December after being put under formal investigation by a judge for alleged blackmail over a sex video involving France team mate Mathieu Valbuena, who was also left out of the squad announced on Thursday. Ben Arfa, enjoying the most prolific season of his career with 17 goals for surprise Ligue 1 package Nice, is one of eight reserves who need a player to pull out injured to hope for a place in the final squad, which Deschamps has until May 31 to present to football’s European body UEFA. Squad: Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille), Benoit Costil (Stade Rennes) Defenders: Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Manchester City), Jeremy Mathieu (Barcelona), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Lucas Digne (AS Roma), Christophe Jallet (Olympique Lyon) Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Juventus), Blaise Matuidi (Paris St Germain), Lassana Diarra (Olympique Marseille), N’Golo Kante (Leicester City), Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United) Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Dimitri Payet (West Ham United), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Andre-Pierre Gignac (UANL Tigres). On the other hand, Belgium football team's head coach Marc Wilmots has announced the squad for this summer's Euro 2016 in France. The roster on Thursday included 24 players and one player will be ruled out before the announcement of the final 23-player squad. The squad did not mark any surprises except ruling out Manchester City's captain Vincent Kompany due to injury. During a press conference on Thursday, Wilmots announced that Galatasary youngster Jason Denayer will be replacing Kompany to compensate for his efforts at the back. Belgium will be playing Euro 2016 in the group of death, Group E, along with Italy, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden. The squad: Goalkeeping: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Jean-Francois Gillett (Mechelen) and Simon Mignolet (Liverpool). Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Jason Denayer (Galatasaray), Bjorn Engels (Club Bruges), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit St Petersburg), Jordan Lukaku (Oostende), Thomas Meunier (Club Bruges), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona) and Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur). Midfielders: Moussa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Radja Nainggolan (AS Roma) and Axel Witsel (Zenit St Petersburg). Forwards: Michy Batshauyi (Olympique Marseille), Christian Benteke (Liverpool), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Romelu Lukaku (Everton), Dries Mertens (Napoli) and Divock Origi (Liverpool).