Call-up for the Scotland and Czech Republic matches

September 30th, 2011 | by: Ade C. | Comments Off

Vicente Del Bosque has released the list of players called up for the qualifying matches for the Euro-2012, against the Czech Republic in Prague, and against Scotland in Alicante.

If you were expecting a surprise… well, remember who we’re talking about.

Here, have my fave pic of Marquis Del Bosque.

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), José Manuel Reina (Liverpool), Víctor Valdés (Barcelona)

Defenders: Álvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid), Jordi Alba (Valencia)

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santiago Cazorla (Málaga), Thiago Alcántara (Barcelona), Xavi Hernández (Barcelona), Javi Martínez (Athletic Club), Cesc Fábregas (Barcelona)
Update: Cesc Fàbregas pulled his hamstring at training with Barcelona and will be out for 3 weeks. Javi Martínez, who picked up a knock with Athletic de Bilbao, recovered in time and will join La Roja.

Forwards: David Villa (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Club), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Pedro Rodríguez (Barcelona), Álvaro Negredo (Sevilla) and Juan Mata (Chelsea).

The only surprise is the inclusion of young Jordi Alba, who is having a very good season with Valencia, having settled into the first team nicely, and who will provide -finally!- some new full-back talent. Though people like Iraola and José Enrique will have to wait still. Wait for what? Ah, who knows how the mind of Our Wise Walrus works?

Spain is already qualified for the Euros! Isn’t this the moment to bring in new people, instead of carting about the same old TIRED players? Puyol has a knock and might not play for Barcelona this weekend, Negredo too for Sevilla, Xabi Alonso has played every match in this season for RM… but no, of course not, let’s drag them all over Europe for meaningless matches!

What I could say about the Torres/Soldado issue I won’t write here, because children might stumble upon this blog.

La Roja’s call-ups are becoming an exercise in frustration for me and for many others, thanks to VDB’s insistence in eschewing experimentation. Let’s just hope that, tired and bored as they must be, the players give their best in the matches to come and we at least get some good football out of the deal.