Exodus from Cobham: International Week Preview

A busy international double-header is set to be packed into the next ten or so days and, as you might expect of a leading club, Chelsea have more than their fair share of players representing their countries across all age groups.

Here’s a rundown of who’s going to be where.

Senior Internationals

Gary Cahill, Frank Lampard, and Ashley Cole will be a part of the England squad which travels to San Marino and Montenegro for two World Cup Qualifiers.

Petr Cech is in the Czech Republic party for their matches against Denmark and Armenia.

Branislav Ivanovic will once again serve as captain for Serbia as they face off against Croatia and Scotland.

David Luiz, Ramires and Oscar are included in the Brazil squad which faces Italy in one friendly before taking on Russia at Stamford Bridge next Monday. Ramires is, however, reportedly an injury concern.

Cesar Azpilicueta and Juan Mata
received calls from Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque as the World and European Champions prepare to face Finland and France. Fernando Torres was not selected.

The usual healthy contingent of Blues in the Belgium squad continues as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois and Kevin De Bruyne will all likely start in at least one of their two dates with Macedonia in the coming days.

Demba Ba will make the long trip to Senegal for a qualifier at home to Angola, whilst John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses and Kenneth Omeruo will play as African Champions for the first time for Nigeria as they turn their attentions towards Brazil 2014 and a home date with Kenya.

Yossi Benayoun and Israel will face Portugal in a friendly and then Northern Ireland in a World Cup Qualifier later in the week.

Youth Internationals

Josh McEachran and Nathaniel Chalobah, who have both been sidelined through minor ailments lately, are in the England Under-21 squad for friendlies against Romania and Austria.

Jeffrey Bruma and Patrick van Aanholt are in the Dutch Under-21 party, Milan Lalkovic is with Slovakia’s, Thorgan Hazard is in Belgium’s, and Islam Feruz receives a second call into Scotland’s highest junior age party. He scored twice on his debut against Portugal last year and will be hoping to add to his tally.

Tomas Kalas is in the Czech Under-21 setup after a fleeting experience in the senior squad, for which is he is yet to debut. He remains on standby to join Cech and friends should he be needed.

Nathan Aké is in the Dutch Under-19 setup, whilst Andreas Christensen has received a maiden call into the same age group for Denmark. Alex Davey continues to develop for Scotland’s Under-19s and will once again join up with them to play Sweden in Ayr.

Lewis Baker was a late addition to the England Under-19 team which takes on Turkey in Telford.

Alex Kiwomya, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ola Aina and Charlie Colkett will be on England Under-17 duty as they bid to qualify for this summer’s European Championships in Slovakia. Charly Musonda Jr (Belgium) and Isak Ssewankambo (Sweden) will be doing the same in the coming weeks as well.

Finally, Dominic Solanke is a part of Kenny Swain’s England Under-16 squad travelling to France for the Montaigu Cup.

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