Gooner Talk

It’s that time again.

Yep, the Internationals are back. Arsenal’s stars are set to fight it out tomorrow evening and next week as the World Cup Qualifiers get into full force.

With the likes of Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas and Nicklas Bendtner all expected to start for their respective countries, you can expect an exciting match from the national team perspective.

Fingers crossed, the Gunners’ players come back unscathed for next Saturday’s important Premier League tie against Everton.

Below you can find all the Arsenal players on International duty,due to time differences, Gooner Talk will only cover the European-based games but we will provide you with results from the African and South American qualifiers.

Theo Walcott – England v Kazakhstan, Saturday 11th,
Belarus v England, October 15th.

England whizkid Theo Walcott will look to carry on his amazing performance in Croatia against minnows Kazakhstan tomorrow evening.

After that game, Theo travels to Minsk to take on Alex Hleb’s Belarus. Both games appear to be fairly easier on paper, but Fabio Capello’s giants are unlikely to take them for granted.

Bacary Sagna & Gael Clichy
Romania v France, October 11th,
France v Tunisia, October 14th.

One win and one defeat for Les Bleus so far in the qualifying rounds. Matches versus Romania and Tunisia pose a tough couple of ties.

Arsenal skipper William Gallas misses out through injury while Samir Nasri is rested. Fellow team-mates Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna are set to be involved – the latter favourite to start.

Cesc Fabregas
Estonia v Spain, October 11th,
Belgium v Spain, October 14th.

Spain top their group by two points with two wins from two, and are unbeaten in 25 matches after last month’s victories over Bosnia and Armenia. They have never faced Estonia before.

Del Bosque is likely to field first-choice strikers David Villa and a fit-again Torres up front in Tallinn, leaving creative duties in the hands of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and winger Santi Cazorla, with Alonso playing the holding role. Cesc Fabregas could start on the bench.

Johan Djourou
Switzerland v Latvia, October 11th,
Greece v Switzerland, October 15th.

The Swiss have endured a dire start to the tournament and need a result, and fast, if they are to have any hope in salvaging their qualifying campaign and making an appearance in South Africa.

Yet it had all started so brightly. Against Israel on the opening day they were only minutes away from an important away victory before Ben Sahar popped up to break Swiss hearts by grabbing an equaliser in injury time.

Johan Djourou is expected to keep his place in the Swiss starting XI while Phillipe Senderos – who is out on loan at AC Milan – is a massive injury doubt.

Lukasz Fabianski
Poland v Czech Republic,
October 11th, Slovakia v Poland, October 15th.

Poland go into the game against the Czech Republic top of the group, yet without really putting in a convincing performance as yet.

A 1-1 draw with Slovenia saw them pick up a point on the opening day before a 2-0 win over San Marino gave the Poles their first victory.

However, the win against San Marino was secured despite a listless performance and San Marino pushed Beenhakker’s men all the way.

Indeed, it took a penalty save from Lukasz Fabianski to prevent San Marino taking the lead in the game before Euzebiusz Smolarek opened the scoring and Robert Lewandowski sealed the victory with a debut goal.

Nicklas Bendtner
Denmark v Malta, October 11th.

After their dramatic late win against Portugal in which Nicklas Bendtner scored, Denmark will want to carry the momentum on to tomorrow’s game against Malta.

Nicklas has been handed a start and you can follow his progress in that game over at Nicklas Bendtner News.

Other Arsenal stars on International duty:

Kolo Toure & Emmanuel Eboue
Ivory Coast v Madagascar, October 11th.

Carlos Vela
Jamaica v Mexico, October 11th,
Canada v Mexico, October 15th.

Alex Song
Cameroon v Mauritius, October 11th.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 6:02 pm and is filed under International News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.