After firing blanks in their Group C opener against Romania on Monday, France found their scoring form in a training match against a regional youth team in Chatel-Saint-Denis.

Seven goals
France coach Raymond Domenech gave the players that did not start in Zurich an opportunity to display their quality against an Under-18 side selected from the junior ranks of Neuchâtel Xamax FC and FC Fribourg. While the pace of the 45-minute game was gentle, the 7-0 scoreline will not have harmed French morale ahead of Friday’s key game with the Netherlands.

Henry on target
Samir Nasri, a second-half substitute against Romania, impressed the most, scoring his team’s first and third goals and having a hand in two others. Patrice Evra, Lassana Diarra, Sidney Govou and Bafetimbi Gomis were also on target - as was Thierry Henry who looked in good shape despite missing Monday’s match with a thigh strain.

Vieira progress
Captain Patrick Vieira, who has also been nursing a thigh injury, looks to be making good progress too, operating alongside Diarra in central midfield for the entire contest. Only Steve Mandanda did not feature in either the training game or the match against Romania, with Sébastien Frey keeping goal on Tuesday and making two sharp saves as the young Swiss side gave a good account of themselves.

Samir Nasri, (سمير نصري) born 26 June 1987 in Marseille is a French attacking midfielder of Algerian Kabyle origin, currently playing for Olympique Marseille.

Club career

Nasri began playing with Marseille when he was nine years old, and joined the French Ligue 1 in the 2004/2005 season. He started 13 games and came on as a substitute in 11 games, scoring a total of just one goal. This is still an accomplishment, as he was only 17-years-old at the time. The next year his goal count improved. He scored two goals in all competitions. But this season he got experience in both the UEFA Cup (10 games; no goals) and the UEFA Cup (one game; one goal). In the 2006/2007 season he scored his first goal of the year in the Championnat late in the season on April 29, 2007. On that day he started the match against Sochaux and helped his team to a 4-2 victory. This win allowed Marseille to climb into fourth place with just four games remaining, putting them into UEFA Cup qualification. Also during this past season, he played two games in both the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Intertoto Cup, scoring no goals.

On May 20, 2007, Samir Nasri was named French Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year ahead of Jimmy Briand and Karim Benzema. He was voted Marseille’s player of the year by the fans, receiving 62% of the votes.

In mid September 2007 Nasri was hospitalised after suffering from a meningitis-like virus. In Marseille’s home match aginst Liverpool in the Group stages of the 07/08 Champions League, Nasri was brought on in the first half despite the fact that he was recovering from an injury. He played a strong match, but Liverpool still went on to win.

Nasri has however struggled with form in the 2007-2008 season, resulting in many fans calling for him to be substituted in the home game against Bordeaux on 4th May 2008. That might have been a very influential part in deciding his departure from the club which seems to be imminent.

After scoring in the final match of the 2007-08 season for Marseille, Nasri was quoted as saying “It is very important because it is perhaps my last match at the Stade Velodrome”, fueling speculation of a transfer. Days after Marseille’s season ended, several media sources, including L’Equipe, BBC Sport, and Sky Sports, claimed that Arsenal were looking to sign Nasri for a fee of approximately £13 million; on 25 May 2008, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger informed the French programme Telefoot that the transfer, if it goes through, would be concluded before EURO 2008, which begins on 7 June. Three days later, Nasri himself told French radio station RTL that the deal was “99% complete”.

International career

He has been involved in the French national set up for a long time, progressing through the Under-16s, 17s, 18s, 19s and 21s. He won his promotion to the full national squad this year, to which he has been called up three times. Nasri scored his first senior international goal in his third appearance for the senior team in a 1-0 win for France against Georgia on June 6, 2007 in a EURO 2008 qualifier.

He received his first cap for France on March 28, 2007 against Austria, in a home friendly match at the age of 19. He delivered a free kick low into the box, and fellow debutant Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the match. He was named in Raymond Domenech’s final squad for EURO 2008; at age 20, he is the youngest member of the French squad selected for the final tournament.

Previously, he was member of the France national under-21 football team. He has been part of the French national team system since he was about 14. He has won with the 2004 UEFA U-17 Championship as part of the France U-17 Football Team, scoring the game winning goal in the final.

Honours

• Winner of UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2005 (Olympique de Marseille).
• French League Young Player of the Year in 2007 (Olympique de Marseille).
• Runner-up of Coupe de France in 2006 (Olympique de Marseille).
• Runner-up of Coupe de France in 2007 (Olympique de Marseille).
• Winner of the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in 2004 (France national football team)
• Marseille’s player of the year, as voted on by the fans in 2007

Samir Nasri’s agent has admitted that the Olympique Marseille star is currently weighing an offer from Arsenal, but insisted that reports of an agreement already having been reached are off the mark.

Marseille-based newspaper La Provence reported last week that Nasri was on the verge of agreeing a ₤12.5 million move to the Emirates, and French daily L’Equipe even went as far as claiming that the highly promising playmaker was due to travel to London to undergo a medical and agree personal terms yesterday.
"We are not in a hurry. It is true that we are examining an offer from Arsenal, which is interesting for Samir Nasri from a sporting point of view," said his agent Jean-Pierre Bernes.
"But I have also received other offers."
The 20-year-old French international has established himself as one of the hottest prospects in Europe over the past few seasons and has emerged as Arsene Wenger’s top transfer priority.