There’s usually this dullness that comes with international football, but it’s always nice to see some players strut their stuff on the international scene. The hope as always, would be that the players come back to North London unscathed.
Gooner Daily gives a quick update on Arsenal’s ambassadors on international duty.
Wojciech Szczesny
He may not be playing for the Gunners this season but his progress is being monitored by the Arsenal staff. After leaving his Roma duties, he got the nod ahead of his Polish rival and former teammate, Lukasz Fabianski, in Poland’s 1-0 win over Serbia yesterday. The Poles have a match against Finland tomorrow but it’s down to the manager to decide whether Szczesny features again.
Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud
Didier Deschamps has called up the Arsenal duo for France’s friendlies against Netherlands and Russia. The Dutch team will contend with the embarrassment of not qualifying for the European Championships holding in France but Giroud would be hoping for get some goals under his belt as he’s currently in a drought of two goals in his last 13 or so.
Mesut Ozil
The German superstar has been called up for Germany’s high-profile friendly against England. He’s also odds on to feature in Germany’s friendly with Italy. The last time both sides met in a competitive fixture, the Azzurri got the upper head, so there would be a bit of revenge in the air.
David Ospina
Ospina played 90 minutes in Colombia’s World Cup qualifier win over Bolivia but he had to take the ball out of his net on two occasions. He will play in Colombia’s second game against Ecuador that comes up next week.
Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck
The Arsenal attacking duo have been called up by Roy Hodgson for England’s friendlies against Germany and the Netherlands. There have been some concerns about Welbeck’s fitness as he missed out on some training sessions but it’s quite expected having been out of the game for so long. Walcott will offer an attacking outlet for the Three Lions and will want to play his part for his nation.
Alexis Sanchez
Alexis played the full game for the South American champions but he could not help his side avoid defeat to their superior opponents. Both teams met in the finals of the Copa America last year but the Chilean triumphed in that fixture. Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold, and the Argentines have gained three points on enemy territory. Alexis will feature again for the Chileans as they visit Venezuela next week.
Joel Campbell
The winger has found himself on the bench yet again following the emergence of Alex Iwobi but at international level, he’s undroppable. Costa Rica has a double-legged affair with Jamaica and I expect Campbell to do his best for his nation in both encounters.
Alex Iwobi and Mohamed Elneny
It’s always nice when two club teammates find themselves on opposing sides at international level and that’s what is going to happen with Iwobi and Elneny lock horns at Kaduna, Nigeria and Alexandria, Egypt in the next couple of days. In what has been tagged as a ‘do-or-die’ affair, Nigeria and Egypt are set to fight it out to end the right to be at the 2017 African Cup of Nations. I will follow this game with keen interest, bearing in mind that my blood bleeds green.
Chuba Akpom, Calum Chambers and Isaac Hayden
Gareth Southgate has called up these Arsenal youngsters for England U-21 qualifiers against Switzerland. Chambers is quite a regular at U-21 level but a part of me is still hoping for Akpom to pledge his allegiance to Nigeria instead of England.
Hector Bellerin
The speedster turned 21 last weekend and he’s approaching his final year at U-21 level because there would be a time where he would be no longer available for selection at this level. Nonetheless, he has been called up for Spain U-21’s qualifiers against Croatia and Norway.
Serge Gnabry
It has been a disastrous campaign for the young German but he was called up by Germany U-21s for the clashes against Faroe Islands and Russia.
Sayonara.
Download the Gooner Daily BlackBerry App to receive notifications on your Smart Phone when a post is published.
Follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily. I’ll follow back
Visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page.
Click on the “Follow button” to join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List
Leave a Reply