17.08.2008 14:24
Week of internationals
www.fcbarcelona.cat
Due to international games being played this coming Wednesday, Josep Guardiola will be without several of his players for training. In total, ten Barça players will be away with their national sides over the next few days.
Following their pre-season games in Scotland and the United States and the first leg of their
Champions League qualifier, the first team now have a week long break from matches. Josep
Guardiola, who gave his players a break until Tuesday, will be without ten players while they are
away on international duty.
World Cup preparation
In the next few days various national teams will be playing friendlies in preparation for
their qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which begin in September.
Bojan called up to full national squad
Vicente del Bosque, the new Spain manager, has called up
Bojan Krkic for the friendly on Wednesday against Denmark (20.15). As well as the Barça youngster,
del Bosque has also called up Xavi, Puyol and Iniesta. This will be Spain’s first game since
being crowned European champions in the summer.
As well as these four azulgranas, Gerard Piqué has also been called up for international duty
but for the under-21 squad. The Spanish also play on Wednesday but at 18.00 away against Russia in
the Eduard Streltsov stadium.
Henry and Guddy too
Henry, with France, and Gudjohnson, with Iceland, are also playing in
friendly matches for their countries next week. The Frenchman plays on Wednesday at 21.00 against
Sweden. Of the 20 players called up by Raymond Domenech, there is no place for Abidal, who has been
left out of the squad.
Gudjohnsen plays at 19.45 in Reykjavik against Azerbaijan.
Márquez – official game
Rafael Márquez is the only Barça player who will be playing an official game with his
national team. The defender will meet up with his squad sometime between Sunday and Monday for
Mexico’s first world Cup qualifying game against Honduras. The game will be played in the
Azteca stadium on Wednesday at 20.00.
Touré and Keita
The final two players called up for international duty are Touré Yaya, who will play for
Ivory Coast on Wednesday against Guinea, and Keita, who will line out for Mali in their game
against Gabon.
While talking about international duty we cannot forget about Leo Messi who is at the
Olympics with Argentina. The forward will play against Brazil on Tuesday at 15.00 for a place in
the Olympic final.