FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.08.2007 18:39

Barça stars called up

Anna Segura

The international matches next week will leave Frank Rijkaard without the majority of his squad as nine players from FC Barcelona have already been called up to play on August 22 by their national teams.

Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Cameroon, France and Ivory Coast have all named their squads for their respective midweek matches. All the games are friendlies, except for Portugal, who are due to play a Euro 2008 qualifier.

Three for France

French coach, Raymond Domenech, has called up Thierry Henry, Lilian Thuram and Éric Abidal for the game against Slovakia on Wednesday. Henry returns to the squad after a long absence through injury that saw him miss all the team's matches since their game against Argentina in February.

Deco, the only one with official match|party

Deco is the only Barça player set to be involved in an official game as Portugal are set to take on Armenia in Group A of the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Luiz Felipe Scolari's side lie in third place, behind Poland and Serbia.

Argentina and Brazil

After losing in the final of the Copa América last month, Argentina coach Alfio Basila has named a new squad for a friendly against Norway in Oslo and has included Lionel Messi and Gabriel Milito.

After missing the Copa América, Ronaldinho returns to the Brazilsquad to take on Algeria in a friendly encounter in Montpellier, France.

Eto’o returns to Japan

Samuel Eto'o returns to the Far East to play for Cameroon, who due to take on Japan in a friendly on Wednesday. Barça's other African star, Touré Yaya is due to play for Ivory Coast in their game against Egypt in Paris.