FCBARCELONA.CAT

17.08.2008 14:24

Week of internationals

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Due to international games being played this coming Wednesday, Josep Guardiola will be without several of his players for training. In total, ten Barça players will be away with their national sides over the next few days.

Following their pre-season games in Scotland and the United States and the first leg of their Champions League qualifier, the first team now have a week long break from matches. Josep Guardiola, who gave his players a break until Tuesday, will be without ten players while they are away on international duty.

World Cup preparation

In the next few days various national teams will be playing friendlies in preparation for their qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which begin in September.

Bojan called up to full national squad

Vicente del Bosque, the new Spain manager, has called up Bojan Krkic for the friendly on Wednesday against Denmark (20.15). As well as the Barça youngster, del Bosque has also called up Xavi, Puyol and Iniesta. This will be Spain’s first game since being crowned European champions in the summer.

As well as these four azulgranas, Gerard Piqué has also been called up for international duty but for the under-21 squad. The Spanish also play on Wednesday but at 18.00 away against Russia in the Eduard Streltsov stadium.

Henry and Guddy too

Henry, with France, and Gudjohnson, with Iceland, are also playing in friendly matches for their countries next week. The Frenchman plays on Wednesday at 21.00 against Sweden. Of the 20 players called up by Raymond Domenech, there is no place for Abidal, who has been left out of the squad.

Gudjohnsen plays at 19.45 in Reykjavik against Azerbaijan.

Márquez – official game

Rafael Márquez is the only Barça player who will be playing an official game with his national team. The defender will meet up with his squad sometime between Sunday and Monday for Mexico’s first world Cup qualifying game against Honduras. The game will be played in the Azteca stadium on Wednesday at 20.00.

Touré and Keita

The final two players called up for international duty are Touré Yaya, who will play for Ivory Coast on Wednesday against Guinea, and Keita, who will line out for Mali in their game against Gabon.

While talking about international duty we cannot forget about Leo Messi who is at the Olympics with Argentina. The forward will play against Brazil on Tuesday at 15.00 for a place in the Olympic final.