Even though the domestic season is over, and even though the weird post-season thing is over too, many of Chelsea FC’s senior squad members are now on international duty with a batch of games to be played this weekend and next week. So let’s see where they’ll be jetting off too.
Gary Cahill, Chelsea’s only representative in England’s squad, will be making a short trip over to the Emerald Isle to take on the Republic of Ireland on Sunday in a fixture not seen since crowd violence halted the last contest 20 years ago. Roy Hodgson’s men will then travel to Slovenia, looking to maintain their perfect win record in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, again on a Sunday.
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The duo of Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois are set to represent Belgium, first in a friendly against France in Paris on Sunday, followed by a qualifier away against Wales on Friday. An injury to Vincent Kompany means that Hazard will captain the national side in both matches, with Marc Wilmots’ men looking to create a lead over Wales at the top of Group B.
Speaking to the press ahead of today’s game, Hazard has also stated his desire to play with compatriot Christian Benteke at Stamford Bridge, more on which you can read here.
Another duo, this time Serbian, of Nemaja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic first take on Azerbaijan on Sunday before a must-win qualifier against Denmark next Saturday. The first game takes place on neutral ground in Austria, while the Serbs then travel to Denmark to try and cut into Portugal’s eight point lead over them in Group I.
It is worth remembering that Serbia were deducted three points following a farcical fixture with Albania last year.
Further to this, Cesc Fabregas has the weekend off before an exhibition match with Costa Rica in Spain on Thursday and a qualifier in Belarus. Spain are currently 2nd in their group after a surprise loss to table-topping Slovakia last November, but they’ll look to keep the pressure on them with a win against a Belarus side who have only won once themselves.
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The last of the European senior squad members involved is Petr Cech. The Czech Republic only have one game, travelling to Iceland for a qualifier on Friday in which they’ll try to extend their lead over Iceland at the summit of Group A.
There are also a few Blues players taking part in the Copa America, which is due to start on June 11th, but we’ll put up a separate preview article for that closer to the time. Additionally, members of Chelsea Ladies FC are involved in the on-going FIFA Women’s World Cup so check out Lee Fraser’s article to find out more.
That should have you up to date with the various whereabouts of Chelsea squad members over the next week. After these internationals the players will finally be released for their summer holidays although it won’t be long before they have to report for pre-season training. Chelsea’s first pre-season fixture will be on July 23rd, where they travel to the United States for the International Champions Cup. Tickets are still available here.
Will any of you be checking out these games? I probably won’t, but that’s besides the point. Sound off in the comments below!
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