Can he continue his good form for England?
The international break is here again as various players would be leaving their respective clubs to feature for their countries in some qualifiers and pointless friendly matches. Here is a full breakdown of the Arsenal players that have been called up to represent their nations in the international fixtures this weekend.
England: Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Gibbs has found first team football hard to come by this season thanks to the form of Nacho Monreal but he was called up nonetheless as England is set to face Estonia and Lithuania in their remaining Euro 2016 qualifiers. With Luke Shaw and Leighton Baines out injured, Gibbs might use this opportunity to show what he’s made of for his nation. The Ox has had a hot and cold campaign thus far and if the cross bar was a few inches higher, he would have scored Arsenal’s fourth goal against Manchester United. Everyone’s eyes would be on Theo Walcott that has finally come of age at Arsenal, and his recent performances have been exceptional to say the least.
Germany: Mesut Ozil and Serge Gnabry
With Per Mertesacker now retired and Lukas Podolski flushed out to Galatasaray, Arsenal’s only German contingent is Mesut Ozil and it was good to see the schemer finally get off the mark for the season with a beautiful finish against Manchester United. Serge Gnabry is also a German playing for the Gunners but he hasn’t come of age yet. Sadly, he hardly features for the Baggies since he was loaned out. Gnabry is set to feature for the Germany U-21s in their qualifiers against Finland U-21s and Faroe Islands U-21s.
Ozil is set to be involved in Germany’s qualifiers against Ireland and Georgia.
France: Olivier Giroud
With Laurent Koscielny suffering from a hamstring injury, Didier Deschamps has called up Olivier Giroud for France’s friendlies against Armenia and Lord Nicklas Bendtner’s Denmark. Deschamps has recently spoken about Giroud’s confidence and he’s hoping his striker can get more playing time at Arsenal but with Walcott in such good form, it would take some stuffing from the French forward to displace him. Giroud ended a personal drought with his goal against Leicester but he had a fairly good chance to get on the score sheet against Manchester United. Sadly, he missed it.
Colombia: David Ospina
Ospina is a man short of confidence following his blunder against Olympiakos. I’d expect him to feature in the Capital One Cup clash with Sheffield Wednesday but he has joined his teammates for the qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay. I hope he keeps a clean sheet or two.
Wales: Aaron Ramsey
Arsenal’s tireless workhorse has had a shitty spell in front of goal this season and he’d be hoping to be on the score sheet when Wales takes on Bosnia and Andorra. Andorra has always been traditional whopping boys like San Marino and I really hope that Ramsey scores a goal or two there.
Chile: Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean hotshot is back to his very best at Arsenal with his goal tally of six goals in three games but he sustained a groin injury towards the end of the game. However, he was been called up by Chile for the qualifiers against Brazil and Peru.
Spain: Santi Cazorla and Hector Bellerin
Cazorla’s new role in the team will not see him grab the back pages for scoring goals or creating assists but his importance to the team is unrivaled. However, at Spain, Cazorla has been on the fringes for as long as I can remember. I hope he gets a good run out in the qualifiers against Luxembourg and Ukraine. Bellerin has been called up by the Under-21s for their qualifiers against Georgia U-21s and Sweden U-21s.
Costa Rica: Joel Campbell
Campbell hasn’t lighted any fireworks since he returned back to the club and he has featured sparingly as you’d expect from a player that isn’t trusted fully by the manager. However, he’s a mainstay in the Costa Rica squad and he’s set to feature in the friendlies against South Africa and U.S.A.
Czech Republic: Petr Cech
Petr Cech returned in goal against Manchester United and kept another clean sheet, which brings him ever closer to the clean sheet record held by David James. He has been called up by his nation for the qualifiers against Turkey and the Netherlands.
Nigeria: Alex Iwobi
It’s pleasing to know that a fellow Nigerian, Alex Iwobi, who’s also the legendary Jay Jay Okocha’s nephew, has been called up by Sunday Oliseh for the friendlies against Congo and Cameroon. I’m looking forward to seeing the lad in action.
I hope our players come back unscathed.
Sayonara.
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