Koscielny proud of first French call-up

Defender Laurent Koscielny received some very good news this week.

The Frenchman, who joined Arsenal in the summer for a fee of around £8.5 million.

With the absence of Thomas Vermaelen, Koscielny has been one of the ever-presents at the back, and it looks like he's formed a good partnership with Swiss defender Johann Djourou.

For Koscielny, the call-up to the squad represents the zenith of his career to date, as he reflects that just three years ago, he was playing in Division 3 at Tours.

The 25-year-old said: "The call-up is a nice surprise. Franck Ribery and Mathieu Valbuena also played in Division 3, but I have been lucky that I met the right people.

"I've experienced difficult moments and each game is a fight.

"But physically, I feel that I am getting better. I still have a lot of things to improve on, notably my positioning and concentration."

France national manager Laurent Blanc revealed that the federation had been looking at Koscielny for some time, and his good performances for the club convinced Blanc that it was time for a call-up.

Blanc said: "We have been monitoring him for a while. I feel that he is constantly improving and growing in self-confidence.

"He has a lot of qualities in his passing, heading and is also intelligent.

"We've also discovered that he can score from free-kicks and he has deserved to be called up."

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