Round Up: Blues On International Duty

[CHOULO19 24,332]

If you're anything like me, life just stops during the 'dark period', the root of all evil; also known as the international break. The needless "break" is called that because it always seems to come at the worst time possible and 'break' your team's momentum, and puts you in a state of constant worrying about potential injuries. As for the football it self, it is notoriously underwhelming and incredibly dull for football fans around the world, but for the footballers themselves, the period is a very busy one.

With 19 Chelsea players out on international duty and playing matches on 3 different continents, keeping up with news that will no doubt come into Jose Mourinho's team selection calculations, such as the playing times of each of them, could get very tricky. So, here is a roundup, by country, of what and how our boys did in the past 10 days:


Brazil

The good news regarding the national team with the most Chelsea players (4) is that Brazil have got no competitive matches for some time. The bad news is that the players have to fly thousands of miles to South America and that all 4 of them started both of Brazi's friendlies.

Brazil 1-0 Colombia (Friendly):
Willian: Started and played 72 minutes.
Ramires: Started and was subbed off at HT.
Oscar: Started and played 72 minutes.
Filipe Luis: Started and played the full 90 minutes.

Brazil 1-0 Ecuador (Friendly):
Willian: Started and scored the only goal of the match. He was subbed off at HT.
Ramires: Started and played 69 minutes.
Oscar: Started and was subbed off at HT.
Filipe Luis: Started and played the full 90 minutes.


Spain:

Fernando Torres' exit brings us down to 3 Spanish players within the Chelsea first team squad. The current European Champions were said to be in "transition" and "still in crisis" after losing to France in the first friendly match, but I saw no sign of that when they put 5 past Macedonia. Fabregas in particular looked good in that match.

France 1-0 Spain (Friendly):
César Azpilicueta: Started and played the full 90 minutes.
Diego Costa: Started and played 67 minutes.
Francesc Fábregas: Started and played 67 minutes.

Spain 5-1 Macedonia (EURO 2016 Qualifier):
César Azpilicueta: Was an unused sub.
Diego Costa: Got injured in training before the match was sent back to England to recover.
Francesc Fábregas: Started and played the full 90 minutes.

Luckily, Costa is expected to be fit for the weekend and he got a deserved rest.


England

In the week he was named vice-captain for the three lions, our only English international at the moment was keen to repay the manager's confidence in him and he looked an absolute rock at the back.

England 1-0 Norway (Friendly):
Gary Cahill: Started and played 84 minutes. He captained the side for a quarter of an hour.

Switzerland 0-2 England (EURO 2016 Qualifier):
Garry Cahill: Started and played the full 90 minutes. Made a match saving goal-line clearing tackle.


Serbia

Serbia, who were drawn into a 5-team group for the EURO qualifiers and were not scheduled to play in the first match week. Hence, they only played one friendly match, against France. Matic was boss, but that's hardly news...

Serbia 1-1 France (Friendly):
Nemanja Matic: Started and played 90 minutes.
Branislav Ivanovic: Started (captained) and played 90 minutes.


France

Frace, the host country of the EURO 2016, qualify automatically and thus only have friendlies scheduled. Remy stole the show in the first by coming off the bench and scoring the winner against Spain. A performance that earned him a start against Serbia a few days later. Their U21 team, however, played two qualification matches and currently sit top of their group.

France 1-0 Spain (Friendly):
Loic Remy: Came on in the 58th minute and ended up scoring the only goal of the match.

Serbia 1-1 France (Friendly):
Loic Remy: Started and played 60 minutes.

Kazakhestan U21 1-5 France U21 (U21 EURO Qualifications)
Kurt Zouma: Started and played the full 90 minutes.

France U21 1-5 Iceland U21 (U21 EURO Qualifications)
Kurt Zouma: Started and played the full 90 minutes.


Belgium

Like Serbia, Belgium only played one friendly match after their match against Israel was postponed due to "security reasons". Eden Hazard did not join up with the team due to an "injury" *ahem*

Belgium 2-0 Australia (Friendly):
Thibaut Courtois: Started and played the full 90 minutes.


Germany

The new world champions unexpectedly lost a friendly against the finalists they beat a few weeks back, before passing the first test in their EURO qualifiers. Schurrle seemed to continue his excellent form with 'die mannschaft'. The only Chelsea first team player to score for a senior national team in the break.

Germany 2-4 Argentina (Friendly):
Andre Schurrle: Started and played 57 minutes. Scored Germany’s first goal.

Germany 2-1 Scotland (EURO 2016 Qualifications):
Andre Schurrle: Started and played 84 minutes.


Czech Republic

Generally, the current Czech NT is not the best in recent years by any stretch of the imagination; something that was highlighted in their defeat against the USA. But they managed to pull the shock of the break by beating the Netherlands.

Czech Republic 0-1 USA (Friendly):
Petr Cech: Started and played the full 90 minutes.

Czech Republic 2-1 Netherlands (EURO 2016 Qualifications):
Petr Cech: Started and played the full 90 minutes.


Denmark

At just 18, Andreas Christensen has already cemented his starting position for the Danish U21 team and even scored in their first match. Quite impressive.

Denmark U21 4-2 Russia U21 (U21 EURO Qualifications):
Andreas Christensen: Started and played 77 minutes. He scored his team’s 4th goal of the match.

Denmark U21 7-1 Bulgaria U21 (U21 EURO Qualifications):
Andreas Christensen: Started and played the full 90 minutes.


Netherlands

Much like the senior team, the Dutch U21 NT did NOT have a good international break losing both of their qualifying matches and their first spot in the group. Ake played both games from start to finish.

Netherlands U21 0-1 Georgia U21 (U21 EURO Qualifications):
Nathan Ake: Started and played 90 minutes.

Netherlands U21 0-1 Slovakia U21 (U21 EURO Qualifications):
Nathan Ake: Started and played 90 minutes.


Egypt

Disastrous week for Egypt, losing to both Senagal and then Tunisia, they have basically all but lost any hope of qualifying to the AFCONs. Good news for Chelsea as Mohammed Salah will most likely be available for selection in January.

Senegal 2-0 Egypt (AFCON Qualifications):
Mohammed Salah: Started and played the full 90 minutes.

Egypt 0-1 Tunisia (AFCON Qualifications):
Mohammed Salah: Started and played the full 90 minutes.


Nigeria

Our other African player didn't have a much better break as his NT only managed a single point from two matches after Congo pulled a shock win in Nigeria in the first match. They're still in the group, but they'll probably need to get at least 9-10 points from their remaining 4 matches. Not that I mind having Mikel available in the busy January period.

Nigeria 2-3 Congo (AFCON Qualifications):
John Obi Mikel: Started and played the full 90 minutes

South Africa 0-0 Nigeria (AFCON Qualifications):
John Obi Mikel: Started and played the full 90 minutes.


The four senior players that did not have any international duty are those retired from their NTs, namely John Terry, Didier Drogba and Mark Schwarzer as well as the 'injured' Eden Hazard.


Finally, we can get back to proper football with our clash against Swansea at the weekend will be the first of 6 matches in 16 days! Something sure to get our minds off the fact that there is another international break in 5 weeks time I'll try not to miss it too much..


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[Myself 793]

nice post, mate.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

nice post, mate.

Thanks :tophat:

[zolayes 14,489]

thanks chou ... pleased to see Luis get two full games .. he needed some playing time

[CHOULO19 24,332]

thanks chou ... pleased to see Luis get two full games .. he needed some playing time

Yeah, him and Christensen were the ones I enjoyed the most.

[zolayes 14,489]

btw Atsu scored

[iseah100 5,612]

Awesome post. Good stuff.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Brilliantly done Choo Choo.

[Madmax 9,219]

You're working hard, Choo.

[Fulham Broadway 16,386]

Well done chou, too much time on your hands

[ulvhedin 471]

Schurrle seemed to continue his excellent form with 'die mannschaft'. The only Chelsea first team player to score for a senior national team in the break.

What about Willian?

Anyway good job, would love to see summary of loaned players also

[CHOULO19 24,332]

What about Willian?

Anyway good job, would love to see summary of loaned players also

Right! I knew I was forgetting someone when I wrote that! Oh well, too late to change it now

Well done chou, too much time on your hands

More like completely wrong priorities!

btw Atsu scored

Yeah, but I only did the players in our current squad. We have more people on loan than here and if this article got a few lines longer no one would have read it