Zidane joins the Baggies for the Roosters... and Mbappe returns after missing three matches

Today, Friday, France coach Zinedine Zidane invited Paris FC striker Pablo Baggues to join the national team for the first time, for its matches against Italy and Turkey in the European Nations League, while Aurelien Chouamini, Ibrahima Konate and Marcus Thuram return to the list for the first time since the 2026 World Cup.

Kylian Mbappe returned after missing France's last three matches due to a knee injury.

Ousmane Dembélé, William Saliba, Jules Kounde, Maxence Lacroix, Manu Kone, Magennis Akleuch and Esteban Lepoul were absent from the squad due to injuries.

France will meet Italy on Thursday in Milan, then meet Türkiye the following Sunday in Bordeaux.

France now needs only a draw against Italy to guarantee its place in the quarter-finals of the Nations League.

The list included goalkeepers Mike Maignan (Milan), Guillaume Rest (Toulouse) and Robin Risser (Lance), defenders Andy Diouf (Inter Milan), Malu Giusto (Chelsea), Jeremy Jacquet (Liverpool), Pierre Kalulu (Juventus), Ibrahima Konate (Real Madrid), Adrien Trover (Bournemouth), Daewoo Upamecano (Bayern Munich), and Lenny Euro (Manchester United), and midfielders. Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Rayan Cherqui (Manchester City), Lucas da Cunha (Cumo), Adrien Rabiot (AC Milan), Aurelien Chouamini (Real Madrid), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain), and strikers Bradley Barkola (Liverpool), Desiree Douy (Paris Saint-Germain), Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich) and Pablo Bagès (Paris). FC) and Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan).

The President of the Women's Tennis Association, American Valerie Camilo, apologized on Friday after a microphone placed next to the court picked up offensive comments made by American star Jessica Pegula about her Russian competitor, Mira Andreeva.

Pegula found herself in the midst of widespread controversy after a conversation she had with her coach, Mark Knowles, at one of the training fields in Indian Wells, California, was broadcast via the association’s live broadcast on the YouTube platform.

During the conversation, Pegula was heard describing Andreeva, 19, in a video clip that went viral on social media, as “acting like an arrogant diva, she should be more humble.”

She added: “I lost my respect for her (Andreeva). She is a nice girl, but she has to grow up.” "I don't know, maybe she's simply not good at handling the situation."

The world number five was also heard criticizing Andreeva's coach, the Spanish Conchita Martinez, who previously won the Wimbledon title, for not dealing with the behavior of the Russian player who won the Roland Garros title.

She said: “Conchita Martinez has lost some of my respect, as she is the one who encourages her to do such behaviour,” adding: “If I were her coach, and my player had just played 4 great games, leading 4-0, and then she got angry with me, I would have told her: Don’t talk to me like that. "It must be put to its limits."

Camilo said, during a press conference on the eve of the start of the final tournament of the women’s season, on Sunday, in Indian Wells, USA, that the controversy resulted from “several failures in implementing the live broadcast, despite the policies and procedures we have adopted.”

She added: “I would like to apologize, on behalf of the entire WTA, for these incidents.”

She continued: “The association pays great attention to the privacy of female players, and we have policies and procedures aimed at achieving a balance between their need for safe spaces and giving fans a greater opportunity to get closer to the game.”

“There was a lack of advance notice and clear signage to help players know there was recording equipment in the area,” she added, stressing that all audio recording devices have since been removed from the training areas.

Camilo explained that microphones were placed on the training courts to capture “ambient sounds,” such as the sound of hitting the ball, and not to record conversations between the players and their coaches.

“It is clear, then, that there was a flaw in the technical implementation and monitoring mechanisms,” she said, before offering a direct apology to Pegula and Knowles: “I would like to direct a special apology to Jessica Pegula and Mark Knowles.”

She continued: “What happened was unfortunate and unacceptable. Jess is one of the league's most prominent advocates and one of its biggest stars. She does not deserve this distraction.”

The final tournament of the WTA season begins on Sunday, where Pegula will face, in her opening match, her compatriot Coco Gauff, fourth, in the first group competitions, which includes the Kazakh Elena Rybakina, number one in the world, and the Czech Linda Noskova, eighth, while Andreeva, third, will meet with the Ukrainian Yelena Svitolina, sixth, in the second group competitions, which includes the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the second, and the Czech Carolina. Mokhova seventh.

A source familiar with the negotiations told Agence France-Presse on Friday that the process of extending the contract of international winger Ousmane Dembélé, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2025, with his team, Paris Saint-Germain, until 2030, is moving in the right direction, despite the fact that no final agreement has been reached yet.

According to the same source, the talks between the Parisian club and the French striker are characterized by a very constructive and positive nature, with a common desire on both sides to reach a quick agreement.

The source added that the negotiations are progressing well, but there are still some outstanding points that need to be resolved.

Dembele joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2023, and the club has a contract with him until June 2028. The 29-year-old player, who is currently suffering from a thigh injury, is especially seeking to improve his salary.

The Spanish coach of the capital club, Luis Enrique, recently described the former Barcelona player, in an interview with Paris Saint-Germain media, as “the heart of the team.”

On the other hand, according to another source familiar with the negotiations, the club has been holding talks for several months with its Georgian international winger, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who suffers from a serious knee injury, to extend his contract beyond 2029.

At the beginning of the season, specifically on September 5, Paris Saint-Germain announced the extension of the contracts of Enrique until 2030, his international compatriot Fabian Reus until 2028, and Ecuadorian Willian Pacho, Portuguese Joao Neves, Brazilian Lucas Peraldo and Ceni Maiolo until 2031.