FCBARCELONA.CAT

03.10.2008 13:10

More than 80% of the squad away

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18 members of the first team have been called up by their national teams. Only goalkeepers Valdés, Pinto and Jorquera, and utility player Víctor Sánchez will stay in Barcelona during the international break.

Josep Guardiola has 22 players under his orders, not counting the injured Milito and Hleb. But of that 22, as many as 18 will be leaving on Sunday to join their international squads, meaning more than 80% of the Barça squad will be away for well over a week.

Puyol, Xavi and Iniesta back

Vicente del Bosque has named three Barça players in his squad for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Spain play in Tallinn (Estonia) on October 11, and then on the 15th they will be in Brussels (Belgium).

Four more with Under-21

Other Barça players will be joining the Under 21 national squad. Bojan, who played for the full international team last time, is joined by Sergio Busquets, Piqué and Pedro. The team has back to back games on the 11th and 14th of October against Switzerland, first at home and then away. In total, there will be seven Barcelona players appearing for Spain in the forthcoming days.

Gudjohnsen, Henry and Abidal in Europe

Henry and Abidal, with France, and Gudjohnsen, with Iceland, have also been picked for their national teams. The French will travel to Rumania and then host Tunisia in a friendly. Gudjohnsen’s side, meanwhile, has matches with Holland and Macedonia.

Hleb is injured, but will travel to his home country to take some medical tests, although he is not going to be taking part in any games.

Eto'o, Touré Yaya and Keita, in Africa

Barça’s three African players are also away, all three for World Cup 2010 qualifiers. Eto'o will join up with the Cameroon squad to play Mauritius (11 October), Touré Yaya and his Ivory Coast play Madagascar (11 October) and Keita’s Mali are up against Chad (12 October). All three are home fixtures.