Call-up for the England and Costa Rica friendlies

November 7th, 2011 | by: Ade C. | Comments Off

… aka, Del Bosque does it again. And again. And again. Until you feel your head will explode if you have to look at the same names (tired, old names) one more time.

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), Ignacio Monreal (Málaga)

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santiago Cazorla (Málaga), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Xavi Hernández (Barcelona), Javi Martínez (Athletic Club), Cesc Fábregas (Barcelona)

Forwards: David Villa (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Club), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Jesús Navas (Sevilla) and Juan Mata (Chelsea).

So, that’s all the players who’ve played nearly -if not all- the matches with their clubs (Xabi Alonso, I’m looking at you), the players who’ve recently come out of injuries (Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, hi!), the players who don’t even feature in their club’s starting XIs (remember Navas?)… and Torres.

At least the Marquis has stopped calling up Capdevila and we get Alba and Monreal in his place; although, of course, knowing Our Wise Walrus, they might not get to play anyway.

In any case, if you’re going to be at Wembley or at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, you’re getting your money’s worth…