Mamadou Sakho - International Career

International Career

Sakho has been active with France at youth level. As early as the age of 13, he began featuring with regional youth sides playing for Île-de-France alongside fellow youth internationals Yacine Brahimi, Tripy Makonda, Maxime Partouche, and Sébastien Corchia. Sakho made his debut for the under-16 team on 21 March 2006 in a friendly match against Germany in a 3–1 victory. He scored his only goal for the team in their 1–0 victory over England in the Montaigu Tournament. France later won the competition defeating Italy 2–1 in the final. With the under-17 team, Sakho made his debut in the team's opening match against Cyprus in an international youth tournament. Midway through the season, Sakho was named captain by coach François Blaquart who noticed the player's leadership skills. Under Sakho's leadership, the team reached the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship and, later, the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup by virtue of their semi-final appearance in the UEFA-sanctioned tournament. At the U-17 World Cup, which was held in South Korea, Sakho captained the team to a quarterfinal appearance where they lost to Spain on penalties.

Due his increased playing time with his parent club, Sakho only made four appearances with the under-18 team. He made his debut for the team on 18 December 2007 in a friendly match against Portugal and later featured in two friendly matches against Germany, one of which was played at the GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau in Stuttgart. Similarly with the under-19 team, Sakho's play with the team was limited not only due to his playing time with Paris Saint-Germain, but also due to his commitments with the under-21 team. Despite making only four appearances with the team, he was selected to play in the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Paris Saint-Germain, however, refused his participation in order to preserve the player's fitness with the player having already played in the 2009 Toulon Tournament, which was held the same month.

Sakho made his under-21 team debut on 19 August 2008 in a friendly match against Slovakia. He played in the 2009 Toulon Tournament and captained the team on two occasions serving in place of the lead captain for the tournament, Étienne Capoue, who came off the bench. On 8 September 2009, Sakho scored his first under-21 goal in a 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification match against the Ukraine. The match ended in a 2–2 draw. A month later, he was installed as the first-choice captain of the team following the selection of former captain Moussa Sissoko to the senior team. Sakho will lead the squad into the upcoming 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

On 5 August 2010, Sakho was called up to the senior team for the first time by new manager Laurent Blanc for the team's friendly match against Norway on 11 August 2010. He didn't make his international debut in the match, but was subsequently called up by Blanc for national team matches in September and October. On 17 November, Sakho made his senior international debut against England. He appeared as a substitute at the start of the second half for Philippe Mexès.