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France hope Ribery will be fit

Nice - France winger Franck Ribery, who has been suffering from back pains, is expected to be fit a week before Les Bleus's opening Soccer World Cup match, coach Didier Deschamps said on Saturday.

Ribery missed last weekend's warm-up game against Norway, which France won 4-0, and will also sit out Sunday's friendly against Paraguay.

"He's been having back problems for several months," Deschamps told a news conference.

"Our goal is that he feels better than the previous weeks and that he is available for the Jamaica game (on June 8)."

France play their last warm-up game against Jamaica in Lille on June 8. They open their World Cup campaign with a Group E match against Honduras on June 15, before taking on Ecuador and Switzerland.

Asked if the Bayern Munich winger could miss the World Cup finals, Deschamps replied: "I don't want to think about it today.

"We are doing everything so that he can come back. He is confident. If there is a problem, we will have time to find a solution."

Deschamps has already named his 23-man squad for the World Cup finals and has six players on stand-by, who left the training camp last weekend.

France squad:

Goalkeepers:
Mickael Landreau (SC Bastia), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Stephane Ruffier (Saint-Etienne)

Defenders:
Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle United/ENG), Lucas Digne (Paris Saint-Germain), Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ENG), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ENG), Eliaquim Mangala (FC Porto/POR), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal/ENG), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool/ENG), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid/ESP)

Midfielders:
Yohan Cabaye (Paris Saint-Germain), Clement Grenier (Lyon), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Rio Mavuba (Lille), Paul Pogba (Juventus/ITA), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United/ENG), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)

Forwards:
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal/ENG), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad/ESP), Loic Remy (Newcastle United/ENG), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/GER)

Standby list:
Remy Cabella (Montpellier), Maxime Gonalons, Alexandre Lacazette (both Lyon), Loic Perrin, (Saint-Etienne), Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton/ENG), Benoit Tremoulinas (Saint-Etienne, on loan from Dynamo Kiev/UKR)

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