Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in World football and has done well to be competitive in the Premier League for many years as well as the Champions League. A win against Udinese in August would ensure that Arsenal would play in the UEFA Champions League for the 14th time in a row. As expected, Arsenal is a club that is a home to a host of players that are essential pieces in their national teams jigsaw puzzle. Arsenal hasn’t produced any player that won the coveted FIFA Golden Ball award but the club’s greatest ever player, Thierry Henry was close to breaking that duck in 2004 and 2005. In last summer’s World Cup in South Africa, Arsenal had 10 representatives flying the club’s Red and White flag in their national team’s colors.
The highest contingent was present in the French national team with four players representing the gunners. Mexico had a left-footed Gunner, Ivory Coast had a Farmer while Cameroon had a dreadlock wielding music track that became the missing link between Abel Xavier and Djibril Cisse the season after. Two Gunners managed to register their names on the score sheet with a single goal each. Denmark’s sweetheart, Nicklas “Wald Bezt” Bendtner slid a goal in while Arsenal’s Flying Dutchman sent his own shot through the legs of Cameroon’s goalie. Arsenal’s captain was the most honored Gunner because he won football’s biggest prize with the Aliens of Spain.
On Wednesday, 13 Gunners are going to represent their countries in friendly matches to test their skills as well as to gain an extra cap for their national teams. With so many Gunners out thanks to niggling injuries, Wenger would be hopeful that they all come back in one piece. Listed below is the list of Gunners that’ll be representing their national teams.
Gervinho – Ivory Coast vs Isreal
Arsenal’s new exciting winger Gervais Yao Kouassi will have another chance to waltz past players like Ben-Haim when Cote d’Ivoire takes on Isreal in Geneva, Switzerland. Gervinho had a decent preseason with the Gunners so Wenger would be hopeful that he’ll come through this match unscathed because he’s odds on to make his league debut from the start when the Gunners visit St. James Park.
Aaron Ramsey – Wales vs Australia
The young captain of Wales will have another chance to lead the Reds when they play Australia in Cardiff. Fabregas’ exclusion from the team during the preseason has given Ramsey the chance to stake a claim for a first team place and his goal against Boca Juniors would have given Wenger something to think about. With tales emerging that Fabregas is willing to go as far as paying his way out to join Barcelona, Ramsey would be the player to shine in the attacking midfielder position.
Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna – France vs Chile
France has had its fair share of great right backs down the years and Sagna has done well to make the position his own. In the days of old, Vincent Candela wore the sacred No. 2 jersey before passing it on to Willy Sagnol. The Bayern Munich star monopolized the jersey for many years but age caught up on him so the mantle has been passed to Sagna and Arsenal’s full back has not disappointed. The greedy French boy, Samir Nasri was also called up to represent France but he has done well enough to live up to the Zidane hype. His future at Arsenal still hangs on the balance but its fair to say that he’s still an Arsenal player for now.
Wojciech Szczesny – Poland vs Georgia
Maclej Szczesny was a great Polish keeper in his days and his son, Wojciech got his big break last season. His performances at the tail end of last season has impressed Wenger enough to make the No. 1 jersey his. With Fabianski also trying to stake his claim, Wojciech will have to make sure that he has an error-free season because Wenger can be ruthless when he wants to be and there’s no better ground to quell his personal demons. St. James Park, a ground were he conceded four goals in February.
Robin van Persie – England vs Holland
Arsenal’s striker on fire and potential club captain will have another chance to hit the back of the net with the World Cup finalists visit Wembley in a high profile friendly match. Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere was called up but injury has thwarted him from playing so he has been withdrawn for further medical analysis but the match has been canceled because of the riots going on within the country
Thomas Vermaelen – Slovenia vs Belgium
Belgium’s captain and Arsenal’s potential vice-captain was reported to have a back strain after the Benfica game but he has been called up to represent Belgium when they take on Slovenia in Ljubljana. I’m pretty sure that he might not be featured because Wenger would hope that he’ll be fit enough to play Newcastle.
Johan Djourou – Liechtenstein vs Switzerland
Arsenal’s most improved defender last season will be part of the Swiss squad that will take on European minnows, Lichtenstein in Vaduz. Djourou forged a very strong partnership with Koscielny last season but its still unknown who Vermaelen’s defensive partner is going to be this season. Koscielny stands in Djourou’s way but there’s a potential signing that could be made with the media Vultures linking Cahill, Samba and Dann strongly to Arsenal.
Andrey Arshavin – Russia vs Serbia
Russia’s diminutive captain will have another chance to lead his boys when Russia hosts Serbia in Moscow. After narrowly missing out of the World Cup, Andrey Arshavin has to work hard to ensure that his country books a ticket to the European Championships in Ukraine and Poland next summer because age is slowly creeping in on the Russian. He played a vital role in his country’s bid for the 2018 World Cup but he’ll surely be in a suit when Russia hosts the tournament because he’ll be 37.
Tomas Rosicky – Norway vs Czech Republic
It has been a very long while since Tomas Rosicky represented the Czechs in an international tourney. He scored two thunderbolts against U.S.A in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany but he missed out on Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria after going for a surgery to solve his niggling hamstring problem. Age is also a factor creeping in on Rosicky so he’ll have to give his best to feature in Euro 2012 because it might be hislast tourney for the Czechs. However, he has been called up to lead the Czechs when they take on Norway in Oslo.
Nicklas Bendtner – Scotland vs Denmark
Even though Nicklas Bendtner has been linked with Sporting CP, Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and Besiktas, he still remains an Arsenal player and he has been called up to spearhead Denmark’s attack when they play Scotland. Bendtner isn’t in the mold of Danish greats like the Laudrup brothers and Ebbe Sand but he’ll get there someday because he has age on his side and he also has the potential.
Alexandre Song – Cameroon vs El Salvador
In a game where African great Samuel Eto’o will be the bookies favorite to score two hattricks, Alex Song will be in the team to make sure that El Salvador provides no attacking threat whatsoever. With Wilshere out injured, Song will be very vital for Arsenal when they take on Newcastle so it’ll be important for Song to play the friendly game without getting injured because the manpower in that playing position is very low.
Armand Traore – Senegal vs Morocco
Africans like Brazilians, are footballing exports in various countries and they have excelled there. The Pope of football, Zinedine Zidane the Great, is of Algerian descent and the North African nation has provided a footballing legend like Youri Djourkaeff. In recent times, Algeria has produced talents like Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri but they chose France instead Algeria. Sevilla’s Frederic Kanoute was faced with the same decision but he represented Mali. The Boateng brothers put themselves in football history books when Ghana played Germany.
Armand Traore has decided to go back to his roots by representing Senegal instead of France and he stands a chance of making his debut when Senegal plays Morocco on Wednesday.
I hope that these players will be used effectively by their national team managers and will be returned back to Arsenal in one piece.
Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Alexander Mark David Oxlade-Chamberlain, or the Chambered Ox as I prefer calling him. He was born on the 15th of August, 1993 and is going to turn 18 next week Wednesday.
He joined the Southampton Academy at the age of seven and made his professional debut in 2010. On 2 March 2010, he made his first team debut for Southampton, at 16 years 199 days, coming off from the bench in a 5–0 victory over Huddersfield Town and became the club’s second youngest ever appearance maker behind Theo Walcott.
He notched up 43 appearances for the saints and has scored 10 goals. He also laid on 9 assists for his teammates. He’s a very versatile player that can operate in all the advanced attacking positions in midfield but he’s a natural winger. His notable strength as a player is his blistering pace but he’s also a good dribbler as well as an adept passer of the ball.
He had this to say,
“Arsenal has a great manager in Arsène Wenger, top quality players and an attractive style of play. These were all important factors in me choosing to sign for Arsenal.”
“I’m proud to be joining Arsenal, but I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Southampton for their help and support during the early part of my career, for which I will always be grateful.”
“I’m now looking forward to meeting all my new team mates and giving absolutely everything in an Arsenal shirt.”
In a team that has predominant wingers like Nasri, Arshavin and Walcott as well as newbies like Gervinho and Miyaichi, the Chambered Ox will have to do his absolute best to contend for a first team place.
The signing of the Chambered Ox has brought mixed emotions among the Arsenal faithful. A section of the fans believe that the Chambered Ox is a great signing for the club because Wenger has fulfilled his promise to sign a player this week and he’ll be a player that will win the league for Arsenal in 2020. Other fans believe that £12m is regarded as a waste for the Chambered Ox because there were other playing positions the money would have been invested in.
For starters, Chris Samba is valued at the same exact price, £12m. Adding £5m to the fee used to purchase the Chambered Ox would have sealed the deal for Gary Cahill. With 22 days left in the transfer window, the gooners will still be hopeful that Wenger would make one more defensive signing because injuries have started taking its toll on the squad.
Arsenal is sweating over the fitness of Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Kieran Gibbs, Robin van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Samir Nasri and Carlos Vela.
You could say that Fabregas is mentally injured.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, welcome to Arsenal Football Club. I hope you, Miyaichi and Jenkinson win the League for us in 2020. I’m hoping that Robin van Persie would win it for us this season.
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Sayonara
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