France midfielder Patrick Vieira pulled out of Saturday's World Cup qualifying match at Romania after injuring himself while warming up.

France rallied from 2-0 down to draw 2-2, but is two points behind Serbia and Lithuania in Group 7.

The France captain had just returned from a series of niggling thigh injuries, but hurt himself close to kick off, the French football federation said on its Web site, without specifying the injury. French television said Vieira had strained his right calf muscle.

"He felt pain in his calf," France coach Raymond Domenech told the Web site of sports daily L'Equipe. "It would have been stupid to play him. He didn't feel it was right, so he pulled out. He couldn't sprint."

Vieira was replaced in midfield by Alou Diarra, while Jean-Alain-Boumsong took the place of the injured William Gallas in the center of the French defense for the Group 7 match.

Sapa-AP

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