ABIDAL STILL HOPES

French defender Eric Abidal has said that he is still hopeful of making an appearance for the French national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The former Barcelona defender recently completed a free transfer to Monaco, who are one of the big spending clubs in Europe at the moment.

However, the possibility of the French international playing football again looked seriously doubt after suffering numerous complications in the last few years. He has even undergone a liver transplant in the last few years, but he is now fit and ready.

The 32-year-old could be a backup to Patrice Evra of Manchester United, and he has said that this would have been almost unimaginable last year. Abidal was first diagnosed with liver tumour and he had to undergo a liver transplant last year. He has been suffering from numerous complications since 2011, and Barcelona decided not to extend his contract. He was recently called up by national team manager Didier Deschamps for the friendly match against Belgium. This has sparked a talk that Abidal could be a surprise inclusion for the World Cup squad.
France are expected to qualify for the World Cup without much difficulty. They are second in the group just a few points behind Spain.

“I never had any hope for this after what I went through during two years. I am very proud to come back in the squad, to wear the blue jersey, which is so important for me, again. I'm not going to say that being back with France was my first goal. Since it ended with Barca, a lot of things have happened. I'm very happy, I'm enjoying life, I want to have fun on the pitch. After all I've been through, I can only be happy to be able to play,” said Abidal.