Fourteen Arsenal players have been called up by their different countries for the forthcoming international fixtures.
Bacary Sagna, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy have all been called up to Laurent Blanc’s France squad. Les Bleus travel to Luxembourg for a Euro 2012 Group D qualifier on Friday before hosting Croatia in a friendly in Paris on Tuesday.
Aaron Ramsey has been called up to the Wales squad for games against England and Scotland in Cardiff. The Arsenal midfielder has not featured for his country since suffering a double leg break in February 2010 but will join up with Gary Speed’s squad ahead of their Euro 2012 Group G qualifier against England at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Wales then host Scotland in the Nations Cup on Wednesday.
Robin van Persie has been called up by coach Bert van Marwijk for Holland’s upcoming Euro 2012 Group E double-header against Hungary. The World Cup finalists travel to Budapest on Friday before hosting the Hungarians in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
Tomas Rosicky has been called up to the Czech Republic squad for two Euro 2012 Group I qualifiers. The Czechs travel to Granada to face Spain on Friday before hosting Liechtenstein in Ceske Budejovice on Tuesday.
Nicklas Bendtner has been called up to the Denmark squad for the upcoming international period. Morten Olsen’s team travel to Oslo for a Euro 2012 Group H qualifier on Saturday and then go to Trnava for a friendly on Tuesday.
Andrey Arshavin has been called up to the Russia squad for Saturday’s Euro 2012 Group B qualifier against Armenia in Yerevan. Arshavin and Russia then travel to Doha for a friendly against Qatar on Tuesday.
Jack Wilshere has been called up to Fabio Capello’s England squad for internationals against Wales and Ghana. England travel to Cardiff for a Euro 2012 Group G qualifier on Saturday before hosting Ghana in a friendly at Wembley on Tuesday.
Kieran Gibbs and Henri Lansbury have been called up to the England Under-21 squad for friendlies against Denmark and Iceland. Stuart Pearce’s side travel to Viborg on Thursday before hosting Iceland at Deepdale, Preston on Monday.
Marouane Chamakh has been called up to the Morocco squad for the upcoming international period. Eric Gerets’ squad travel to Annaba for an African Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday before hosting Botswana in a friendly on Wednesday.
Emmanuel Eboue has been called up to the Ivory Coast squad for Saturday’s African Cup of Nations qualifier against Benin in Accra.
Carlos Vela has been called up to the Mexico squad for friendlies against Paraguay and Venezuela in America. Mexico face Paraguay in Oakland on Saturday before meeting Venezuela in San Diego on Tuesday.
The first thing that readily comes to mind when you hear that a team produces fourteen internationals is Quality! Arsenal football club has plenty of it around the pitch. Attack, Midfield, Defense (scratching my head). The problem is Arsenal have been unable to turn the quality into winning trophies in the last six years. Previous seasons, the excuse every Arsenal fan and even Arsene Wenger gave was “It’s still a young team and we are growing”.
This season Arsenal have come of age and it showed in their early chase for four titles until they came crashing, losing three competitions in three weeks. They are still in the mix for the EPL but even with all the quality, one cannot trust Arsenal to lift the trophy come may, thanks to a calamitous defensive pairing of Koscienly and Squillaci. Offensively Arsenal is one of the best teams in the EPL but defensively, you cannot say same.(I’m not talking about Arsenals goalkeeping woes today, because that would take a whole day to write)
Everytime Arsenal players go away on international duty, I (like many other Arsenal fans) hope they do well for their countries and Ultimately come back to the club without injury. (International duties have cost us in the past – Van Persie, Vermaleen, Walcott). So in that vein, I wish these fourteen players all the best on their match days and my fingers are crossed.
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