France midfielder Claude Makelele is to end his international
career after the Euro 2008 qualifiers.
The Chelsea man announced after the World Cup that he no longer
wished to play for Les Bleus, but France coach Raymond Domenech
called him up for duty nonetheless.
Controversy ensued, with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho even claiming
that Makelele was being treated like 'a slave' and that he should
not be forced to play against his will.
However, club and country have now settled on an agreement to allow
Makelele to play in the remaining qualifiers but not the
competition's final stages in Austria and Switzerland.
"It is a controversy I want to end today," the 33-year-old told
L'Equipe.
"I have found an agreement with my club and my national
coach.
"When I came back to London after the last match against Italy, I
had a talk with my coach José Mourinho, before talking again to
Domenech.
"He made me understand that I had to reverse my decision to stop
playing.
"For Chelsea, the priority was to avoid Fifa sanctions and
controversy, but Mourinho didn't understand why Domenech called me
again after I said I wanted to stop.
"There had never been any secret agreement with Mourinho for me to
stop playing with Les Bleus. It was just my decision.
"But now there won't be any more controversy because I am back in
the French team for the next match.
"My aim is to do my best for the French team and to get
qualification, but I won't go on.
"It is clear in my mind, I won't play Euro 2008. I believe Domenech
will be right with me, as it will be the correct time to hand
over.
"I believe Domenech and Mourinho had a talk recently, so I am happy
that everything has been settled for everyone and above all for
me."
Although Makelele is committed to France's qualifying campaign, he
would like to see Domenech plan for the future by selecting younger
players ahead of him in certain games.
"I believe that if we achieve a good result in Scotland, it would
be nice for the coach to try a young player like Jérémy Toulalan on
the Wednesday against Faeroe Islands," he explained.
