Put the [R] in there because I'm assuming this thread will stick around until the games start to be played. Qualifying continues with a round of games on Saturday, June 2 and Wednesday, June 6. June 2 Matches Azerbaijan v Poland Belgium v Portugal Finland v Serbia Kazakhstan v Armenia Faroe Islands v Italy France v Ukraine Lithuania v Georgia Bosnia-Herzegovina v Turkey Greece v Hungary Norway v Malta Germany v San Marino Wales v Czech Republic Estonia v Croatia Macedonia v Israel Russia v Andorra Denmark v Sweden Iceland v Liechtenstein Latvia v Spain Albania v Luxembourg Belarus v Bulgaria Slovenia v Romania June 6 Matches Armenia v Poland Finland v Belgium Kazakhstan v Azerbaijan Faroe Islands v Scotland France v Georgia Lithuania v Italy Bosnia-Herzegovina v Malta Greece v Moldova Norway v Hungary Germany v Slovakia Andorra v Israel Croatia v Russia Estonia v England Latvia v Denmark Liechtenstein v Spain Sweden v Iceland Bulgaria v Belarus Romania v Slovenia Luxembourg v Albania Some rosters are surfacing today for squads for the round of qualifying. Notably, England has included Michael Owen for their game Estonia. France will play on the 2nd and the 6th, so there's a good chance we'll see plenty of Arsenal footballers out there. Holland has included Robin van Persie for their game against Thailand on 6 June (which must just be a friendly, it's not a qualifier). Should be RvP's first return to action. I'm looking around to see if any other squads have been announced yet.
Yep - Frogslegs in goal, Snails in defence, Horse meat in midfield and some crepe's up front! Gotta love racial stereo types! Le Rosbif's will beat any horse meat any day
England NT: Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson (Tottenham), Scott Carson (Liverpool), Robert Green (West Ham). Defenders: Phil Neville (Everton), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), John Terry (Chelsea), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Man Utd), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Ledley King (Tottenham), Nicky Shorey (Reading). Midfielders: David Beckham (Real Madrid), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), David Bentley (Blackburn), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Stuart Downing (Middlesbrough), Kieron Dyer (Newcastle). Forwards: Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Alan Smith (Man Utd), Jermaine Defoe (Tottenham). Not Cashley, but Bridge !! .. Now i'm surprised ..
I'm waiting to see Holland and France's squad. Im hoping RVP isnt playing. Lets make sure his injury is completely sorted out. Henry better not be playing yet. Make sure he is straight as well.
Reportedly van Persie is in the Holland squad for the game against Thailand, but remember it's just a friendly, not a qualifier.
he might be back with RvN for the competitive games but thats the squad for Korea and Thailand friendlies Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax Amsterdam), Henk Timmer (Feyenoord). Defenders: Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Barcelona), Tim de Cler (AZ Alkmaar), John Heitinga (Ajax Amsterdam), Kew Jaliens (AZ Alkmaar), Joris Mathijsen (SV Hamburg), Mario Melchiot (Stade Rennes). Midfielders: Nigel de Jong (SV Hamburg), Denny Landzaat (Wigan Athletic), Wesley Sneijder (Ajax Amsterdam), Rafael van der Vaart (SV Hamburg), Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar). Forwards: Romeo Castelen (Feyenoord), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Ajax Amsterdam), Danny Koevermans (AZ), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Andwele Slory (Excelsior), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic)
Ah... well, that's fine by me too. An earlier story had reported he was named to the squad for Thailand, but I'm glad to see him get some extra rest.
Euro Qualifying, one of my ways to make it through the close season. France has an interesting match against Ukraine, and I hope Henry plays no part. He cannot be fit by now. It'll be interesting to see if Diaby, Clichy, etc are named to the squad.
Found this in another forum "This is the official list http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breve...140453Dev.html Gardiens : Grégory Coupet (Lyon), Mickaël Landreau (Paris-SG), Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina). Défenseurs : Eric Abidal (Lyon), François Clerc (Lyon), Julien Escudé (FC Séville), William Gallas (Arsenal), Bakary Sagna (Auxerre), Sébastien Squillaci (Lyon), Lilian Thuram (FC Barcelone). Milieux : Abou Diaby (Arsenal), Alou Diarra (Lyon), Lassana Diarra (Chelsea), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Florent Malouda (Lyon), Samir Nasri (Marseille), Franck Ribéry (Marseille), Jérémy Toulalan (Lyon). Attaquants : Nicolas Anelka (Bolton), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Jimmy Briand (Rennes), Djibril Cissé (Marseille), Sidney Govou (Lyon). Big surprises : Jimmy Briand from Rennes & Bakary Sagna from Auxerre No Trezeguet or others Juve players"
Footballers must have the least amount of time off than any other professional sport. Owen in the England squad is a joke. Excited to see how Becks does.
Interesting that there is no Clichy on the list for defenders. I thought he recently broke through to the senior squad?
Domenech's hatred of Trezeguet continues. I'm surprised he's not in the squad, especially in the absence of Henry. I'm not surprised Clichy isn't in there yet, but I'm sure it won't be long until he's a fixture. There's still some depth and experience ahead of him.
Why not? I don't think there's any chance he'll start, as these are important games for France, but I'd love to see him get in and get some experience. He's fresh enough, hasn't been overplayed, and I think experience at that level is only going to help him.
When our players play in international games it scares the crap out of me. I'd hate to have a player of ours get injured in a game that has nothing to do with us. The only experience he needs is first team experience for Arsenal IMO
I understand where you're coming from, but unfortunately it's a fact of life. Having players that are good enough to play for Arsenal usually means they're good enough to play for their national team, too, and we just have to deal. That's one of the reasons why I'm not keen to add more French players to our squad though, as it feels a bit like we're putting all our eggs into one basket, and Domenech historically hasn't taken the best care of that basket.
Well, I think its great that he is breaking through into the senior squad. I love seeing our players represent their respective countries, especially during the summer off season. What I hate is the stupid FIFA dates during the season where our players get called away and get injured, especially if they are just friendlies.