Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 9y

Lyon's Nabil Fekir chooses to play for France over Algeria

Lyon starlet Nabil Fekir has told L'Equipe that France coach Didier Deschamps has convinced him to opt to play for Les Bleus.

Fekir, 21, was born in France to a family of Algerian origin, and reports last week suggested the midfielder, who has shot to prominence with Lyon this season, had chosen to play for Algeria at international level.

He was named in the Algeria squad for upcoming games against Oman and Qatar by coach Christian Gourcuff. Fekir, however, then issued a press release stating he had not yet made up his mind,

Then, following Lyon's 5-1 win over Montpellier on Sunday evening, in which Fekir scored twice, Lyon's presidential advisor, Bernard Lacombe, revealed the youngster had chosen France. And the player confirmed his decision on Tuesday.

"I talked to Didier Deschamps, who was very convincing. He said he was counting on me, that I was an interesting player," said Fekir, who has contributed 11 goals and seven assists to Lyon's Ligue 1-leading cause this season.

"There's an important deadline coming up: Euro 2016. I really want to take part in that. I'm French of Algerian origin, and I'm very proud of that, but I considered that it was in my interest to opt for France.

"Everyone can understand that I was not faced with an easy choice. I have never been called up by France's youth sides. On the other hand, I have already been called up once by the under-21s. Therefore, there is a certain logic that after the under-21s, I have the ambition of playing for the senior side.

"Algeria is part of my heart, France too. My dad would have loved to have seen me play for Algeria. But I'm the player, it's me who is on the pitch. It will be France, and it won't change. I am very attached to the team. I would like there to be no ambiguity about that."

Virtually unknown before taking advantage of injuries to Clement Grenier and Yoann Gourcuff this season, Fekir has been one of the revelations of Ligue 1 season.

His meteoric rise is set to continue with a call-up for France's friendlies with Brazil and Denmark later this month, with Deschamps set to name his squad on March 19.

He acknowledged, however, that he faces a battle to earn himself a place in Deschamps' starting XI with Mathieu Valbuena, Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema the established attacking trio.

"There are some very, very good players. It's a risk to take, and I am ready to take it If I'm called up for Les Bleus, I know that it's not to be first-choice from the off. A career is built in stages. France has the means to win titles again."

Fekir added that it was too early to draw parallels with another Franco-Algerian, Zinedine Zidane, after only 35 Ligue 1 games.

"It's a very flattering comparison for me, but let's be serious: I'm very very, far from Zidane's level," he said. "I'm quite lucid, and also those around me, who advise me or coach me know I'm very, very far from Zidane's level. I'm still not an international class player, but I'm going to work with my club to try and achieve that.

"To come back to Zidane, we do have at least one point in common. We had to make the same choice. Like me, he's born in France. Like me, his parents were born in Algeria. I made the same choice as him."

As Euro 2016 hosts do not play a competitive fixture until next year's finals, Fekir could actually still switch to Algeria before he turns out in an official fixture for France.

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