FCBARCELONA.CAT

09.02.2009 12:22

Internationals depart

www.fcbarcelona.cat

15 members of the first team have international fixtures this Tuesday or Wednesday, although only Rafa Márquez will have a competitive game when he plays for Mexico against the United States.

After almost three months with no international games, this week Barça will once again be briefly losing players as 15 first teamers head off to join up with their national sides.

Only Márquez has competitive game

Mexican Rafa Márquez is the only Barça player to have a competitive match this week, when he plays for Mexico against the USA in Columbus, Ohio, early Thursday morning Catalan time in a Concacaf qualifying game for the South Africa World Cup in 2010.

First on Tuesday

The first Barça players to take the field will be Bojan along with reserve team members Botía, Jeffren and Miño when Spain’s under-21s take on Norway at Cartagena.

Dani Alves has also been called up to play for Brazil on the same day in a friendly with Italy at the Emirates Stadium in London.

Rest on Wednesday

The other internationals will be turning out on Wednesday. Xavi, Iniesta, Piqué and Sergi Busquets will be taking on England in Seville for Spain.

Keita’s Mali is playing Angola in La Courneuve in France. Eto'o will also be in France at Bondoufle to play in the Cameroon v Guinea friendly.

Messi goes head-to-head with Henry and Abidal

Also this Wednesday three Barça players will be turning out in the same game in Marseille as Argentina, managed by Maradona and led by Messi, take on France with Henry and Abidal in its ranks.

Gudjohnsen has also been called up by Iceland to play against Liechtenstein. Touré will be playing for Ivory Coast against Turkey in Izmir while Martín Cáceres will be at the Libya v Uruguay clash in Tripoli.