16.08.2007 18:39
Barça stars called up
Anna Segura
The international matches next week will leave Frank Rijkaard without the majority of his squad as nine players from FC Barcelona have already been called up to play on August 22 by their national teams.
Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Cameroon, France and Ivory Coast have all named their squads for their
respective midweek matches. All the games are friendlies, except for Portugal, who are due to play
a Euro 2008 qualifier.
Three for France
French coach, Raymond Domenech, has called up Thierry Henry, Lilian Thuram and Éric Abidal
for the game against Slovakia on Wednesday. Henry returns to the squad after a long absence through
injury that saw him miss all the team's matches since their game against Argentina in February.
Deco, the only one with official match|party
Deco is the only Barça player set to be involved in an official game as Portugal are set to
take on Armenia in Group A of the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Luiz Felipe Scolari's side lie in third
place, behind Poland and Serbia.
Argentina and Brazil
After losing in the final of the Copa América last month, Argentina
coach Alfio Basila has named a new squad for a friendly against Norway in Oslo and has included
Lionel Messi and Gabriel Milito.
After missing the Copa América, Ronaldinho returns to the Brazilsquad to take on Algeria in a
friendly encounter in Montpellier, France.
Eto’o returns to Japan
Samuel Eto'o returns to the Far East to play for Cameroon, who due to take on Japan in a
friendly on Wednesday. Barça's other African star, Touré Yaya is due to play for Ivory Coast in
their game against Egypt in Paris.