There may be a two-week break before the next taste of
domestic football for West Ham United, but that isn't the case
for several of our international stars, who will be heading off for
the latest round of friendly matches with their respective
countries.
Recent loan signing Lionel Scaloni was called up last week by
Argentina for their clash against Croatia next Wednesday (March 1),
to be played on neutral ground in Switzerland. Having found himself
out of the side at Deportivo La Coruna this season, Lionel headed
to the Premiership with the aim of boosting his chance of heading
to the World Cup this summer with the South Americans, and his
decision appears to be paying off already.
Also in action next Wednesday will be Christian Dailly, named today
in the Scotland squad to face Switzerland at Hampden Park.
Meanwhile, Israeli pair Yossi Benayoun and Yaniv Katan head back to
their homeland for a friendly in Tel Aviv against Denmark that will
be the final match in charge for current coach Avraham Grant.
Also travelling away together will be our trio of Welsh
international stars, Danny Gabbidon, James Collins and Carl
Fletcher - all included in their squad for an encounter at the
Millennium Stadium against Paraguay - the opening opponents for
England at the World Cup finals in Germany.
Goalkeeper Shaka Hislop could also be in action closer to home,
after being called up by Trinidad and Tobago for their friendly
against Iceland at Loftus Road on Tuesday.
Finally, there is also likely to be some interest from Upton Park
when the England squads are announced at the weekend. Full-back
Paul Konchesky will be hoping to follow up his second half
appearance in the memorable 3-2 win over Argentina back in November
with a call-up to Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad for the friendly
against Uruguay at Anfield next Wednesday - but the more debatable
question is will he be joined by any of his claret and blue
colleagues?
Anton Ferdinand and Nigel Reo-Coker will at least be on under-21
duty with Peter Taylor's team for their friendly against Norway
at Reading on Tuesday night, but many experts in the game have
already tipped them for promotion to the full squad in the near
future, while Hayden Mullins and Matthew Etherington have also had
their names put forward by Alan Pardew recently.
Good luck to all of our international representatives next
week…