FCBARCELONA.CAT

03.06.2009 09:45

International duty for 17 Barça players

www.fcbarcelona.cat

As many as 17 Barça players will be on international duty this June. Some of them will be involved in World Cup qualifying matches while Alves (Brazil) and five of Barça’s Spanish internationals will play the Confederations Cup.

Although the season is over as far as Barça is concerned, 17 players will continue playing football with their national sides.

Confederations Cup

The FIFA Confederations Cup is to be held in South Africa from 14th to 28th June. Six Barça stars will be involved: Xavi, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Piqué and Puyol for Spain and Alves for Brazil. Before that Brazil will face two World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay (7th June) and Paraguay (10th June).

Bojan with under-21s

Meanwhile, Bojan Krkic will turn out for Spain under-21s in the European Championships from 15th to 29th June in Sweden.

For his part, Gudjohnsen will play for Iceland against Holland on 6th June and Macedonia on 10th June.

Messi and Martin Cáceres

Messi and Martin Cáceres will also be doing their bit to book a place at the South African World Cup. Messi will appear for Argentina against Colombia on 6th June and then Ecuador on 10th June.

Martin Cáceres has been called up by Uruguay and should face Brazil, and Barça team-mate Alves, next Sunday. On 10th June Uruguay takes on Venezuela.

African players

Barça’s African stars are all involved in World Cup qualifiers. Keita will appear for Mali against Ghana on 7th June and then against Benin on 21st June. Touré Yaya will play for Ivory Coast against Guinea on 7th June and Burkina Faso on 20th June. He will also be involved in the friendly between Ivory Coast and Eto’o’s Cameroon team on 13th June. For his part, Eto’o has a World Cup qualifier with Cameroon against Morocco on 7th June.