There was a face many thought they wouldn't see again on the Stade De France field on Friday evening, as France took on Germany in a game that will be remembered for everything but football.

Hatem Ben Arfa came off the bench for 10 minutes, pulling on a shirt that even the player himself at times probably never envisioned wearing again.

His appearance while on merit, did indeed receive a helping hand. Les Bleus have been attracting unwanted attention recently thanks to the Mathieu Valbuena sex tape blackmail scandal, which also involves fellow international star and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.

The latter has now been charged with conspiracy to blackmail and also faces preliminary charges of participating in a criminal group. 

So, it is just as well for France coach Didier Deschamps that he was able to justify Benzema’s absence from his squad for the Germany and England games with the fact that the 27-year-old is only just returning from a lengthy injury lay-off.

Valbuena has also been left out of the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000-winning captain’s group for the two friendlies, but because of the recent controversy and not injury. Deprived of two of his most influential players while controversy continues to engulf them daily, Deschamps has been able to look at other options available to him.

One of the players who has profited from Benzema and Valbuena’s omissions this international break is OGC Nice’s Ben Arfa.

For the first time since June 2012, arguably French football’s most notorious enfant terrible is back in the France squad after an excellent start to life with Les Aiglons in Ligue 1.

"I'm really very happy to return to the France team," Ben Arfa told a press conference at the France team training facilities at Clairefontaine. "It has been a long, long time since my last call-up.”

“Now, I'm taking this call-up as a reward, as encouragement after all the hard work I've done these past few months, after all the trials I've been through,” he continued. “I'm really very happy and very honoured to be able to be a part of the France team today."

Back with Les Bleus after three years away, Ben Arfa’s spectacular rebirth is complete after a tough spell in England with Newcastle United and Hull City came close to signalling the end of a career that has always promised so much but delivered precious little.

The 28-year-old is enjoying an excellent season so far with high-flying Nice and Claude Puel’s No. 9 has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 13 Ligue 1 appearances so far. 

That tally has him level with Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani in Le Championnat’s scoring charts and only two goals behind joint leaders Zlatan Ibrahimovic of PSG and FC Lorient’s Benjamin Moukandjo.

"Hatem had a very, very good start to the season," Deschamps told the press conference when he revealed his squad for the Germany and England friendlies. “These last few matches he's been a little less good but he's played practically three months of competitive games, so I think it's good to bring him back into the French squad, given what he's capable of.”

Indeed, Ben Arfa scored two goals in his first three games back in Ligue 1.

The man from the Parisian commune of Clamart netted a penalty in the 3-3 draw away at ESTAC Troyes before bagging a typically sensational solo effort in the 2-1 home win over SM Caen, another of this season’s surprise packages.

The Frenchman then went quiet for a few games, with the exception of providing the assist for Valere Germain’s equaliser in a 1-1 draw away at Angers SCO, before spectacularly exploding back into life with a run of five goals and one assist in three games.

In late September and early October, Nice beat Girondins de Bordeaux, AS Saint-Etienne and Stade Rennais in consecutive matches and Puel’s men scored a combined total of 14 against the trio. Ben Arfa was instrumental in that run, catching the eye with a stunning brace against Les Verts and another sublime individual effort in Rennes.

Since then, as Deschamps acknowledged after calling him up, the mercurial former Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille player’s form has cooled down a little bit.

Nice themselves lost a bit of momentum recently. Les Aiglons suffered a shock defeat to Gazelec Ajaccio, a less surprising loss to a resurgent FC Nantes and then they were held to a goalless draw by a poor Lille OSC side.

However, a 1-0 win away at floundering Marseille has restored confidence at Allianz Riviera and Nice are currently sixth in Ligue 1, just four points behind second placed Lyon. European qualification is certainly not impossible this season, even if greater consistency will be needed to achieve that ambitious goal.

Despite Ben Arfa’s drop in form though, the 13-times capped France international is not undeserving of this international recognition.

If he can keep producing similar piece of magic to what we have already seen from his so far this campaign, not only could Nice qualify for continental competition, but Ben Arfa could also find himself representing France at Euro 2016 on home soil.