Ahh international breaks, when our boys in white don a variety of other colors depending on their nationality. I always love international breaks, while some people might find them boring, I think the interplay of country vs. club loyalties is fascinating and besides it allows me to calm my Bolton worries, if just for a little bit. Also with 45 matches taking place over 4 days there has to be excitement somewhere, right?
Will former super-power France be forced into play-offs? Can Turkey (who had a brilliant Euro Cup) edge out Bosnia-Herzegovina for a play-off spot? The Russia v. Germany game promises drama as they battle for automatic qualification. Can Northern Island get a play-off spot to become only the second home nation going to South Africa? Group Two promises the most excitement, with any one of four teams able to win the group (those four being Switzerland, Greece, Latvia, and Israel). While over in Group One there is the amazing possibility that Portugal (and their darling Cristiano Ronaldo) may not be traveling to South Africa at all. (To view the European qualifying tables pay a visit to the very informative BBC ). See what I mean? There's excitement galore this coming weekend! And I didn't even get into the other continents or our very own Gary Cahill...
While Fabio Capello made an appearance at two recent Bolton games (he's been a very busy man indeed, he went to 5 premiership games in the space of about 36 hours this past weekend) it looked like Cahill would not get his well deserved call up after all. However Joleon Lescott, the former Everton defender, has got himself a calf problem and will not be able to play this weekend. This gave the treasured spot in the England squad to Cahill (who I reckon deserves it over Lescott anyway). Cahill has been one of the best centre-halves in all of England lately (in my humble opinion) and has performed wonderfully both games Capello has seen. As I said in my post on Cahill a week or two ago, while I would not say he was better than Terry or Ferdinand, i would say he is better than Upson and all other candidates for that matter. These two low-pressure matches (because England have already qualified) are perfect chances for Cahill to prove himself, and I really hope he does just that!
But Cahill isn't the only Wanderer caught up in international drama, so be sure to stay tuned as I'll update you on our non-English oriented boys later on!