Nicolas Anelka played the first half as France fell 1-0 to Nigeria in St. Etienne on Tuesday night.

The forward linked up with his international team-mates after helping secure our fifth FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday, and had a couple of chances, forcing a save from Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama before the visitors' Joseph Akpala scored the only goal of the friendly game in the 32nd minute.

Florent Malouda was an unused sub for Raymond Domenech's side, who will be in action again on Friday evening when they host Tunisia.

Missing from that game was John Mikel Obi, while Michael Ballack was not involved in Germany's 7-2 win against the United Arab Emirates in Dubai. Recent Bayern Munich signing Mario Gomez scored four times for the Germans.