Higuain declines offer to play for France

Teenager Gonzalo Higuain, the French-born son of Argentine parents, has told France he will not play for them in a friendly against Greece next week.

Coach Raymond Domenech surprisingly included the 18-year-old River Plate striker in his squad yesterday. However, the French Football Federation (FFF) received a fax today from the player's father saying his son did not wish to play for France at the moment.

"Given his situation, I would have understood and respected Gonzalo Higuain's choice if he had decided to play for Argentina," Domenech told the FFF website. "I am a bit surprised by the fact that he has made no decision (on whether he wished to play for France or Argentina)."

"Every French player has to accept an invitation to play for France, no matter which club he plays for or what background he has," Domenech added.

Higuain is a French national but does not speak French. Domenech has seen him play only on tapes and has not spoken to him yet.

A highly promising player, Higuain is already being compared with another French forward with an Argentine father, David Trezeguet, who was not on the 24-man list released by Domenech for next Wednesday's match at the Stade de France.

Higuain's father Jorge played professional football in France for Brest where Gonzalo, who will turn 19 next month, was born in 1987. He was only 10 months old when he moved to Argentina with his family and has lived there ever since.

A striker with playmaking skills, the teenager has played 30 matches for River Plate, scoring 13 goals including six in the current Apertura championship.

Domenech said the fact that Wednesday's match was a friendly meant Higuain would have still been able to play for Argentina in the future had he answered the call-up.

"I wanted to use this friendly against Greece, which would have had no impact on his international future, to talk about his situation," Domenech said. "I wasn't asking him to choose but just to come and talk. Now I'm waiting for an answer from him and I hope it will be a reasonable one."