The National Technical Director, Frédéric Delannoy, has announced the team of 18 players who will contest the Olympic qualifying tournament of Auckland from February 2 to 10, 2008. Three replacement players will be accompanying the group on this adventure that starts with a tour in Australia.

As the Technical Director pointed out, "due to the long duration of the preparation, it was in fact wise to leave with three replacements. Some new team members are experiencing their first selection with France A, namely Maxime Lanos, Henri Lhomme, and Jean-Baptiste Pauchet. As for the rest, the national team relies on the more experienced players with a strong base formed by players of Saint Germain H.C., a leading club on the national and international level."

Before entering into the core of the matter in New Zealand, the Tricolores will go through their preparation: they depart on January 12 for Australia, where they will be contesting several matches against Australian regional sides. The Tricolores will thus travel to Perth from January 11 to 20 before concluding their preparation in Canberra from the 20th to the 26th.

A few days before the departure of the Bleus, Frédéric Delannoy revealed the goals or this Australia tour for the French men's team to us: "To settle into the environment in terms of getting adapted to the climate and the time lag, playing as  many matches as possible on a high level against the Australian provincial teams in order to put in place the tactical schemes of the team and to build a team. All this happens with the continuity of what has been put into place until now, especially the mental preparation camp that just ended in Corsica, the effectiveness of which was praised by everyone."

There's no doubt that the Tricolores and their staff will not spare any trouble on this final straight that takes them to the Olympic qualifier, remembering that that competition offers a precious ticket to the Beijing Olympic Games to the team finishing first. If the French men's national team has maybe lost a certain amount of preparation time due to the problems in regard to the team staff, "this can turn into an advantage for the freshness of the group," says the Technical Director, "The squad has notably started to build competence and confidence because of the two victories over the Belgian Olympic squad during the month of December in Spain."

Below you will find the composition of the French delegation.

Head of delegation: Sylvie PETITJEAN
General Manager: Patrick ROULT
Manager: Philippe GOURDIN
Coach: Jérôme TRAN VAN
Tactical coach: Bertrand REYNAUD
Physical trainer: Franck GRONDIN
Video technician: Antoine FRANCOIS
Doctor: Christophe POPINEAU, Benjamin TAISNE
Physiotherapists: Yves LELIEVRE, Gilles MOUCHERON, Sébastien LEBRIS

18+3 players:

Name, Club, League
Gérome BRANQUART, Saint Germain H.C., Ligue Ile de France
Matthieu DURCHON, C.A. Montrouge, Ligue Ile de France
Nicolas GAILLARD, C.A. Montrouge, Ligue Ile de France
Tom GENESTET, Saint Germain H.C,. Ligue Ile de France
Martin GENESTET, Saint Germain H.C., Ligue Ile de France
Antoine GOUEDARD COMTE, Saint Germain H.C., Ligue Ile de France
Thomas GOURDIN, C.A. Montrouge, Ligue Ile de France
Arnoud JANSEN, C.A. Montrouge, Ligue Ile de France
Maxime LANOS, Racing Club de France, Ligue Ile de France
Nicolas MONNIER, Racing Club de France, Ligue Ile de France
Christoph MUSGENS, Saint Germain H.C., Ligue Ile de France
Nicolas MUSGENS, Crefelder HTC, Germany
Baptiste ROGEAU, Saint Germain H.C., Ligue Ile de France
Frédéric SOYEZ, Club de Campo Madrid, Spain
Julien THAMIN, Saint Germain H.C., Ligue Ile de France
Charles VERRIER, Saint Germain H.C., Ligue Ile de France
Frédéric VERRIER, Saint Germain H.C., Ligue Ile de France
Martin ZYLBERMANN, Saint Germain H.C,. Ligue Ile de France

Replacements
Henri LHOMME, F.C.Lyon H.C.H.C., Ligue Rhône Alpes
Jean Baptiste PAUCHET, Amiens S.C., Ligue Picardie
François SCHEEFER, C.A. Montrouge, Ligue Ile de France

Source: French Hockey Association