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SOCCER WORLD CUP 2010 PLAY-OFFS:GENERALLY SPEAKING, he does not have a whole lot in common with Giovanni Trapattoni. When it came to naming his squad for the forthcoming World Cup play-offs between the Republic of Ireland and France, however, Raymond Domenech managed to be about as predictable as the veteran Italian with the only real talking point being his decision to omit a midfielder tirelessly talked up by others.

In the Italian’s case there were actually two, with both Steven and Andy Reid left out, while yesterday in Paris the primary focus of attention was Domenech’s decision to ignore Patrick Vieira’s less than compelling case for a recall while, perhaps more significantly, he decided that Samir Nasri will not be sufficiently recovered from his recent injury problems by Saturday or Wednesday week to merit some involvement against the Irish.