TIGNES, France (AFP) - An emotional French coach Raymond Domenech said Wednesday that naming his 23-man squad for the Euro 2008 was the toughest decision of his career.
Several high-profile nplayers were omitted from Domenech's final squad, including former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse and Paris Saint-Germain keeper Mickael Landreau.
"I'm not here to explain why. I'm still too emotional. I've experienced the toughest time of my career as coach," said Domenech at the team's national training centre.
Speaking about his decision to leave out Cisse, Domenech said: "There are moments when, even though the emotional bonds are there, the professional side must take precedence."
Cisse was one of seven members of France's Euro 2008 squad to be dropped by Domenech, the third successive time the Marseille forward has missed out on a major tournament.
As for Landreau bad performances against Scotland in the qualifiers and a poor domestic season with PSG did it for him.
Domenech, who included six Premiership players for next month's championships, also left out Julien Escude, Philippe Mexes, Alou Diarra, Mathieu Flamini and Hatem Ben Arfa.
"I told the group that I would knock on their doors and the decision would be waiting for them. It was difficult and heavy, with lots of emotion," Domenech said.
"I wanted the rest of the players to be in the hall of the hotel to give their support to the players who were leaving."
Cisse did himself no favours with a lowkey performance in France's warm-up friendly against Ecuador on Tuesday. He was booed by the crowd after missing a header.
His omission will be all the harder to take as he also missed the 2006 World Cup after breaking his leg in a friendly on the eve of France's departure for Germany when bang in form and the Euro 2004 through suspension after a punch up.
Star of the show in Tuesday's 2-0 win was St Etienne striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who received just reward for producing two spectacular goals on his France debut by being included in the list unveiled at the dual European champion's official training centre.
He was the first French player to score a double on his first appearance for his country since Zinedine Zidane.
Also left in the mix for the 2008 finals co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland was another player being bloodied for the first time on Tuesday, Cisse's teammate Steve Mandanda.
France are drawn in the group of death, Group C, with the team that beat them in the World Cup final Italy, the Netherlands, and Romania.
France squad
Goalkeepers: Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina/ITA), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona/ESP), Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ENG), William Gallas (Arsenal/ENG), Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich/GER), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona/ESP), Francois Clerc (Lyon), Sebastien Squillaci (Lyon), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon)
Midfielders: Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth/ENG), Claude Makelele (Chelsea/ENG), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan/ITA)
Forwards:: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea/ENG), Thierry Henry (Barcelona/ESP), Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ENG), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/GER), Samir Nasri (Marseille), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Sidney Govou (Lyon), Bafetimbi Gomis (St Etienne)
