Euro 2012: Toon Duo Selected for France

Laurent Blanc has named his provisional French squad for Euro 2012, and Newcastle stars Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye have both earned the opportunity to represent their country on one of the biggest stages in football.

It’s hard to argue that the pair haven’t earned their opportunity, as they’ve both been very influential in the success the Toon have had this season. The two are genuine international-quality players, and should play a key role for France, nevermind just being named in the squad.

Along with Cabaye and Ben Arfa, the Premier League will be represented in the France squad with the likes of Samir Nasri and Patrice Evra – a great pair of players for the Toon duo to be compared with.

Yohan Cabaye has already made 10 appearances for his national team, with Ben Arfa making only 8, but with both players aged 26 and under, they can expect for those numbers to increase dramatically as they enter the prime of their careers.

Ben Arfa has already expressed his joy in being selected, saying “I have a great personal satisfaction to have achieved my top priority and I express my great thanks to all those which supported me these last months.”

Tim Krul has also been named in the Netherlands’ provisional squad, and you can already tell that the Magpies are going to have many a representative this summer in both the European Championships and the Olympics.

Let’s just hope our stars can stay injury-free as they go for gold.