International Gunner Watch - It's Almost Like Good News

Nice scarf, Tommy. Pic via Big Soccer.

With all of Arsenal's injuries, there will only be eight first team Gunners on international duty during this weekend's unfortunate injury period international break. This conveniently gives the wounded the opportunity to spend two weeks training and rehabilitating in London, or just watching pre-season NBA games, as shown in the picture.

Cesc Fabregas will not be playing for Spain, still out with a hamstring injury, but should be set to return immediately afterward the break. Please note that this is usually the exact opposite of how international breaks usually go for Arsenal players. Manuel Almunia should return to action for Birmingham City at the Emirates on the 16th as well. Theo Walcott may need another week, but may return for Arsenal's trip to Manchester City on the 24th. Robin van Persie is a bit behind schedule but could be back by the start of November. Nicklas Bendtner expects to be back in contention by the end of the month. Kieran Gibbs should be back within the next two Arsenal matches as well.

There's two bits of bad injury news and both are on the back line. Thomas Vermaelen's Achilles injury is slower to heal than expected and there is, as yet, no time table for his return. In addition, Bacary Sagna picked up a left thigh injury while training with France and has been dropped from the national squad for this week and sent back to London.

Also, there's the case of Carlos Vela, who was banned from the Mexican team for six months for organizing a hotel party after a friendly with Colombia last month. I think this is something Arsene Wenger, who is known to detest these breaks, should encourage more!

FRANCE: SAMIR NASRI / ABOU DIABY / GAEL CLICHY
Saturday v. Romania; Stade de France, Saint Denis
Tuesday v. Luxembourg; Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz

France is currently in third place in Group D, thanks to their loss to Belarus. This time around, Les Bleus get to play the 5th and 6th place teams in the six team group. As mentioned above, France will be without the injured Bacary Sagna.

ENGLAND: JACK WILSHERE
Friday with U-21 v. Romania; Carrow Road, Norwich
Tuesday with senior squad v. Montenegro; Wembley Stadium, London

Despite being named to Fabio Capello's senior squad, Jack Wilshere will also be forced to play with Stuart Pearce's Under-21 squad in their Euro 2011 qualification play-off first leg against Romania in Norwich on Friday night. We're all worried he'll be overplayed by England, leading to an eventual injury plagued career, because as you probably know, it's happened before.

CZECH REPUBLIC: TOMAS ROSICKY
Friday v. Scotland; Synot Tip Arena, Prague
Tuesday at Liechtenstein; Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz

The Czech Republic have lost their first and only Group I match and sit in 4th place out of five teams. They had a bye round during the last international break.

RUSSIA: ANDREI ARSHAVIN
Friday at Ireland; Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Tuesday at Macedonia; Philip II Arena, Skopje

Russia is in 3rd place out of six in Group B. They lost to Slovakia and beat Andorra. Both of their matches are away from home in this set of rounds, but their one loss did come in Moscow.

IVORY COAST: EMMANUEL EBOUE
Friday at Burundi; Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium, Bujumbura

Ivory Coast leads Group I after 3-0 win over Rwanda, during which Eboue scored the third goal.

MOROCCO: MAROUANE CHAMAKH
Friday at Tanzania; Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar-es-Salaam

All four teams drew in Group D, though Morocco sits in 4th place out of four, since they played a 0-0 draw with a team that comes before them alphabetically (Central African Republic,) while Tanzania and Algeria's draw was 1-1.

ENGLAND U-21: HENRI LANSBURY
Friday v. Romania; Carrow Road, Norwich
Tuesday at Romania; Stadionul Municipal, Botosani

England's Under-21 squad plays a two-legged play-off with Romania to attempt to qualify for the 2011 tournament. The second leg is away from home since England finished second in their group.

POLAND U-20: WOJCIECH SZCZESNY
Sunday v. Germany (friendly)

International Gunner Watch - It's Just a Sprain!

Walcott left on a stretcher, but it's not as serious as it looked. Pic via Daily Telegraph.

Here is your international recap for Tuesday:

Turkey 3 - 2 Belgium

Tough loss for Thomas Vermaelen and Belgium, who are now falling farther behind in Group A qualification. Daniel van Buyten had a brace for Belgium, who led 1-0, then equalized 2-2 in the 70th before Arda Turan won the match for Turkey in the 78th. Belgium have not been in the Euro tournament since 2000 (as hosts;) they last qualified under normal circumstances in 1984.

Russia 0 - 1 Slovakia
Andrei Arshavin and Russia dropped points at home to Slovakia after Miroslav Stoch won the match for the away side in the 27th minute.


Bosnia 0 - 2 France
France got a much needed win in Sarajevo today, their first under manager Laurent Blanc. Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, and Abou Diaby played all 90 minutes.


Switzerland 1 - 3 England
After setting up Wayne Rooney's opening goal, Theo Walcott was stretchered off the pitch with a nasty looking ankle injury... but thankfully, the Arsenal international curse didn't take full effect. It looked like a break at first, but reports state that it's actually just a sprain. Fabio Capello asked Theo "two weeks?" regarding the length of his injury and Walcott's response was "less." Kieran Gibbs did not feature.


Czech Republic 0 - 1 Lithuania
Milan Baros missed a penalty that would have equalized in the 40th minute, and Tomas Rosicky and the Czech Republic are off to a bad start.


Argentina 4 - 1 Spain
Karma continues to torment Pepe Reina for his little Barcelona shirt stunt. Cesc Fabregas played 56 minutes for Spain in their friendly. It was only Spain's third loss since 2006.

Carlos Vela and Mexico hosts Colombia tonight in another friendly.

U21: England 3 - 0 Lithuania
Jack Wilshere returned to the fold as a substitute after being withheld from Friday's match after his focus had slipped due to his involvement in... some sort of fracas... Wilshere was a catalyst for the Three Lions, ensuring their qualification, which looked to be in danger entering the weekend.


U21: Italy 1 - 0 Wales
Italy finished top of their group, thanks to another clean sheet from Vito Mannone.

International Gunner Watch - Africa Cup Qualification, Eboue Scores

Ivory Coast celebrates a 3-0 win. Pic via CAF.

Here's your recap of Saturday's international action involving Arsenal players:

Morocco 0 - 0 Central African Republic

Marouane Chamakh and Morocco could not secure three points at home against Central African Republic, who are currently ranked 202 in the world.

Mauritius 1 - 3 Cameroon

Samuel Eto'o had a brace in the win for Alex Song and Cameroon.

Ivory Coast 3 - 0 Rwanda

Emmanuel Eboue scored from 25 yards out five minutes from time in the first half to give Ivory Coast the 3-0 lead by which they would eventually win.

Mexico 1 - 2 Ecuador

Carlos Vela played 64 minutes in Mexico's friendly lost, on home soil, to Ecuador.

International Gunner Watch - France Lost Again!?

Belarus won. In France. Pic via ESPN.

Here's your Friday recap of international matches involving Arsenal players:

Belgium 0 - 1 Germany
Thomas Vermaelen played all 90 minutes for the Belgians, who lost thanks to Miroslav Klose's 51st minute goal.


Andorra 0 - 2 Russia
Andrei Arshavin played all 90 minutes as well, as Russia picked up a brace from Pavel Pogrebniak. In this qualifying match for 2008, Arshavin was sent off.


France 0 - 1 Belarus
Things just aren't getting better for France's national team, are they? Clichy, Sagna, and Diaby played all 90.



San Marnio 0 - 5 Netherlands

Robin van Persie's hurt, of course, but the Oranje didn't seem to need him.

England 4 - 0 Bulgaria
Theo Walcott was not quite in the form he has been in with Arsenal lately; Jermain Defoe picked up a hat trick at Wembley, but Spurs center back Michael Dawson left with what looked like a serious knee injury. Kieran Gibbs did not feature.

Liechtenstein 0 - 4 Spain
Cesc Fabregas played the second half; Fernando Torres and David Villa each had a brace.

UNDER-21's:

Portugal 0 - 1 England
Jack Wilshere did not appear off the bench, but Daniel Sturridge's goal kept England alive.

Ukraine 2 - 2 France
Now on loan Armand Traore was not named in the squad for France's draw, which eliminated them from qualification.

Bosnia 0 - 1 Italy
Vito Mannone kept a clean sheet as Italy stayed alive in Sarajevo.

Finland 2- 0 Poland
Poland was eliminated; Wojciech Szczesny was not named in the squad.

International Gunner Watch - Euro Qualifiers, Round 1

Qualifying for the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship begins this week, which means a number of Arsenal players will be out on international duty during this, the first international break of the 2010/11 Premier League season. Of course, not all of Arsenal's international players are European; in fact, only nine of the 17 Gunners on international duty this weekend will be participating in Euro qualifiers. Four more will be playing for Under-21 European squads, while four will be playing in African Cup of Nations qualifiers. All this, and Carlos Vela in a Mexican friendly...

FRANCE: Abou Diaby, Bacary Sagna, and Gael Clichy
Four Gunners went to South Africa representing France and three came back (*coughGallasisatraitorcough*) ... Samir Nasri could have been named to this weekend's squad had he not been injured and Sebastien Squillaci, Arsenal's newest signing, was not named to Laurent Blanc's squad.

France is in Group D of qualifying, up against Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania, and Luxembourg. France will host Belarus in Saint-Denis on Friday, then travel to Sarajevo to play Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday.

ENGLAND: Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs
England is 12-0 when Theo Walcott plays while Kieran Gibbs has earned his second call-up. Jack Wilshere was dropped to the U-21 squad, so more the peacemaker later. England is in Group G, with Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, and Montenegro.

England hosts Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday and will play Switzerland in Basel on Tuesday.

SPAIN: Cesc Fabregas
Those Barcelona players get another chance to tap-up our captain this week, which is just fan-frickin'-tastic. Spain is in Group I with Rosicky's Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania, and Lichtenstein. Spain will play Lichtenstein in Vaduz on Friday, but with only five teams in the group, the World Cup champions will not play on Tuesday. Maybe that means we get Cesc back in training sooner, please?

CZECH REPUBLIC: Tomas Rosicky
As mentioned in the above paragraph, Rosicky's Czech Republic are in the same group as Spain. They will have off on Friday, then on Tuesday, they'll host Lithuania in Olomouc.

BELGIUM: Thomas Vermaelen
Belgium and their captain Vermaelen do not have an easy trip into the Euro 2012 as they are in Group A with Germany, Turkey, Austria, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. Belgium will host the Germans in Brussels on Friday night, which would be a huge win. Tuesday, they travel to Istanbul to play Turkey.

RUSSIA: Andrei Arshavin
Arshavin and the Russians missed out on a trip to the World Cup in the final play-off round of qualifying but are in Group B here, along with Slovakia, Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia, and Andorra. Russia starts with Andorra in Andorra-la-Vella on Friday, then hosts Slovakia in Moscow on Tuesday.

ENGLAND U-21: Jack Wilshere
Recently arrested Jack Wilshere has been dropped from the senior squad to the Under-21 squad (though, that's not related.) In their U-21 qualifiers, they'll play Portugal in Barcelos on Friday, then host Lithuania in Colchester on Tuesday. These are the last two U-21 qualifiers, with that tournament being held in 2011. England is second in Group 9, behind Greece. England could be eliminated with a loss to Portugal.

FRANCE U-21: Armand Traore
Traore, now on loan to Juventus, will play with France's Under-21 squad as they play the Ukraine in Kiev on Friday and Malta in Amiens on Tuesday. France is in third in Group 8; they'll be eliminated with a loss to Ukraine or a draw if Belgium picks up at least a point against Slovenia.

ITALY U-21: Vito Mannone
I'm not sure if Mannone starts for the Italian U-21 squad. I do know that he's 22 years old now. Italy is third in group 3. They'll play Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo on Friday and Wales in Pescara on Tuesday.

POLAND U-21: Wojciech Szczesny
Our young future #1 keeper is in group 4, where Poland sits in third place as well, behind Holland who have already qualified and Spain. Poland will play Finland in Pori on Friday and Spain in Grodzisk Wielkopolski on Tuesday. Poland will be eliminated on Friday if they don't beat Finland or Spain wins against the Netherlands.

It looks like all four of these Under-21 teams could be eliminated by the end of the week.

IVORY COAST: Emmanuel Eboue
Ivory Coast are in Group H of 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, along with Benin, Rwanda, and Burundi. The Elephants will host Rwanda on Friday in their first qualifier.

CAMEROON: Alex Song
The Indomitable Lions are in Group E with Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mauritius. Cameroon in this round will play Mauritius in Curepipe on Saturday.

MOROCCO: Marouane Chamakh
Morocco is in Group D with Tanzania, Algeria, and Central African Republic. The Lions of the Atlas will host Central African Republic in Rabat on Saturday.

MEXICO: Carlos Vela
It's a friendly for Carlos Vela and Mexico. They'll play Ecuador in Guadalajara on Saturday.

International Gunner Recap - France Lost?!

Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Vela both saw time in Mexico City as Spain and Mexico played to a 1-1 draw. Fabregas played only the first half for the World Champions, while Vela played 58 minutes.

Theo Walcott started for England in their 2-1 win over Hungary at Wembley. Kieran Gibbs replaced Ashley Cole at halftime. Steven Gerrard had a brace (hopefully he won't duplicate that feat Sunday) and was replaced by Jack Wilshere, making his top level international debut in the 84th minute.

Andrei Arshavin's sixth minute cross was bobbled by Bulgaria's goalkeeper, setting up the only goal in Russia's 1-0 win. Samir Nasri played 79 minutes as France lost 2-1 in Norway.

I haven't been able to find information about how the other four first team Gunners involved in international play today fared. Here's a recap of scores, though:

Thomas Vermaelen and Belgium lost to Finland 1-0.
Lukasz Fabianski may or may not have played for Poland in their 3-0 loss to Cameroon.
Tomas Rosicky and the Czech Republic waltzed to a 4-1 win over Latvia.
Marouane Chamakh and Morocco beat Equatorial Guinea 2-1.

International Gunner Recap - Eboue Booked, Lansbury Comes Off Bench

Henri Lansbury came on at the hour mark in Bristol. Pic via Arsenal Youth.

Henri Lansbury started on the bench for the English U-21 side as they played host to Uzbekistan in Bristol today, then came on in the 61st minute of a 0-0 match, replacing captain Jack Rodwell of Everton. Danny Rose, who you may recall from a certain disastrous game in April, opened the scoring for England in the 64th; they went on to win 2-0.

Emmanuel Eboue started for Ivory Coast in a 1-0 win over Italy in East London. He was booked in the 35th minute, after a foul that resulted in, from what I could gather from the Associated Press recap, "rolling theatrics" from the Italian player. Kolo Toure scored the lone goal on a header after a free kick in the 55th.

12 more Gunners play meaningless games tomorrow.

International Gunner Watch - Useless Friendly Time!

Damn you FIFA, who cares about this round of friendlies, anyway? Pic via Internet News.

Well, here we go again. The Premier League campaign starts in just four days for most teams in England (five for Arsenal and Liverpool and six for Manchester United and Newcastle United.) Euro 2012 qualifying doesn't start for another month or so. So, what better time for FIFA to arrange a mess of international matches that don't count!

Let's assess the damage for Arsenal. 14 Gunners have been selected in this round of pointlessness including 12 first team members. Arsenal does dodge a few bullets in certain circumstances, especially with the much maligned French World Cup team left behind and Robin van Persie and much of the Netherlands World Cup squad omitted as well. Anyway, here are the players you should be praying return to North London in one piece:

Emmanuel Eboue and the Ivory Coast will get their friendly out of the way pretty much faster than everyone else. Of the 12 first team Gunners involved in this round, only Eboue plays today; the rest play tomorrow. Not only is that fortunate for the team trickster, but their friendly against Italy is also being played in London, at West Ham United's Upton Park.

Cesc Fabregas and the World Cup winning Spain squad will be getting back together again, where they will all likely attempt to brainwash him into joining Barcelona. They'll be playing against Carlos Vela and Mexico in the 105,000 seat Azteca Stadium. Every time Carlos Vela plays a friendly at home in Mexico, it seems like it takes him two weeks or more to recover from the resulting jet lag. Hopefully Fabregas can handle the time differences a little better, otherwise I fear we won't even see Cesc in red and white for a month.

England named three Gunners in their squad for their Wembley Stadium friendly against Hungary; all of whom were of course left behind for the World Cup: Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, and Theo Walcott. As much as I'm excited to see these guys outperform all of the Spurs, United, and Chelsea players that crashed out of South Africa, I just hope the notoriously bad Wembley pitch doesn't cause any damage.

With a trip to Anfield looming around the corner, the team obviously needs Andrei Arshavin ready to terrorize the Reds as he has in the past (to the tune of five goals in two matches. I am not going to stop reminding you all about that.) Arshavin was held out of the Legia Warsaw friendly with a slight muscular problem, so we may need to hope extra hard that Russia's friendly with Bulgaria in St. Petersburg doesn't do any further damage to our Diminutive Ridiculous Facial Expression Maker.

Samir Nasri was left out of France's World Cup catastrophe but has been recalled for this week's friendly with Norway in Oslo. Every French player that was in South Africa has been left behind for this one, which is honestly great news for Abou Diaby, Bacary Sagna, and Gael Clichy. This is also fairly good news for Nasri, who is keen to rebound after a difficult campaign last year. You can tell the fire to succeed is in him this season, and that's exciting.

Thomas Vermaelen is the only Arsenal defender recalled by his national team, which makes sense, since he's Belgium's captain. They'll play Finland in Turku, the Official Christmas City of Finland. Speaking of international defenders, Laurent Koscielny has declared his intent to play for France rather than Poland.

Speaking of Poland, Lukasz Fabianski has been called for their match against Cameroon (who will not feature Alex Song.) Tomas Rosicky is with the Czech team in Latvia and Marouane Chamakh makes his first international appearance as a Gunner as Morocco plays Equatorial Guinea in Rabat.

Two Gunners will also plays friendlies with their country's respective Under-21 sides: Henri Lansbury with the English U-21's against Uzbekistan in Bristol today and Vito Mannone with the Italian U-21's against Denmark tomorrow.

Safe travels to all!

Netherlands 0 - 1 Spain, a.e.t.: Oh, Come On!

Netherlands 0
Spain 1: Iniesta 116

Well, in what was a very physical World Cup final, we saw...

Oh, oh, you have to be kidding me, I barely even commented about the level of ridiculousness that...

Alright. Fine.

Preview: Netherlands v. FC Barcelona, World Cup Final

Van Persie and Fabregas may share the World Cup Final pitch... for like 25 minutes at most.

Pics via 1000 Goals and Arsenal Spot.

Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg

Sunday, July 11

2:30 p.m. EDT, 19:45 BST

• Referee: Howard Webb (England)
• First World Cup meeting
• All-Time in All Competitions: 4 Netherlands wins, 4 Spain wins, 1 draw
• Netherlands Form: W-W-W / W-W-W
• Spain Form: L-W-W / W-W-W

Netherlands Predicted Line-Up

Stekelenburg

van der Wiel - Heitinga - Mathijsen - van Bronckhorst

van Bommel - de Jong

Robben - Sneijder - Kuyt

van Persie

Spain Predicted Line-Up

Casillas

Ramos - Pique - Puyol - Capdevila

Busquets - Xabi Alonso

Xavi - Iniesta

           Pedro

Villa

Historical Notes

• This is the first World Cup Final since 1978 to feature two nations that have never won the tournament before.
• It's the third appearance for the Dutch in the final; they lost to West Germany in 1974 and to Argentina in 1978.
• This is the first final appearance for Spain.
• This marks only the third final since 1954 not to feature Germany or Brazil. It's the second consecutive final to do so as well, the third was 1978.
• Spain and the Netherlands have never before met in the tournament stage of a major international competition (meaning the World Cup or the European Championship.)
• They did meet in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Spain won 3-1 to take the silver medal while the Netherlands took bronze.
• They met in qualifying for the 1984 Euro; Spain won 1-0 in Seville, Holland won 2-1 in Rotterdam. Spain advanced at Holland's expense on the third tie-breaker, goals scored, after famously defeating Malta 12-1 in the final qualifying match.
• Spain has not beaten the Netherlands since that 1-0 win in 1983, losing three and drawing one.

Match Notes

• In the FIFA rankings, Spain are #2 and the Netherlands are #4.
• With a win, Spain would become the first nation to win the World Cup after losing their first game of group play.
• This is the first World Cup final not to include one of either Brazil, Italy, Argentina, or (West) Germany.
• Paul the Octopus picked Spain.

News Roundup 7/7/10 - The Controversially Onside Edition

This ridiculous shot put Holland up 1-0 yesterday. Pic via Guardian.

• International Gunner Watch - Van Persie: After shocking Brazil on Friday, the Netherlands advanced to their first World Cup Final since 1978 after a 3-2 win over Uruguay. Much debate surrounds whether Robin van Persie was offside for De Oranje's second goal, the goal which put them ahead for good. My opinion: RVP was offside by a hair's width and did interfere with the goalkeeper's vision. By the letter of the law, the goal should not have stood. But, it wasn't as blatantly obvious as some other goals that have counted (*coughTevezcough*). [Guardian]
• Speaking of van Persie, he has requested a squad number change that is awaiting team approval. Likely to #10, which is being vacated by Gallas. [Gooner Talk]
• International Gunner Watch - Fabregas: It looked like there was a chance Cesc would start for Spain in today's semifinal against Germany, but thanks to a shin injury, it looks like he'll be starting on the bench again. [Guardian]
• Speaking of Fabregas, Barcelona has had to ask for a £125 million bank loan to cover unpaid wages for players and staff. No wonder they won't "overpay" for him... even though they've overpaid for everyone else over the past couple of years. Everything about Barca just feels smarmy. [Guardian, Telegraph]
• The Laurent Koscielny transfer deal should be completed within the next 24 hours, at £8.5 million. I've heard a rumor that he'll be wearing #6, which makes sense as that number was vacated by Senderos. [Daily Mail]
• Koscieny's soon-to-be-"former" French team Lorient, have already signed his replacement. That was fast... [Sky Sports]
• Arsenal's opening weekend fixture against Liverpool at Anfield has been moved for television to Sunday at 4:00 (11:00 Eastern.) I've been saying that would happen since the fixture list came out, but I don't think I typed that here anywhere, so you're just going to have to take my word for it. What? You don't believe me!?! [Arsenal.com]
• Oh, and Bendtner's hurt. That's one injury already for the start of the season... Bets on who's next? [Telegraph, ESPN Soccernet]
• Pre-season training has begun in North London! And the first friendly is in ten days! Get excited! [Arsenal.com]

International Gunner Watch - Quarterfinals

UPDATE: Apparently, I completely missed Paraguay somehow. Apologies to Manchester City's Roque Santa Cruz and Sunderland's Paulo da Silva and Cristian Riveros. So, it's ten clubs represented.

Guess how many English football club teams still have at least one of their players in South Africa?

The answer is nine, but what's surprising are the teams that are and aren't still represented. I thought it looked poor for Arsenal that only two of their players are still in the tournament (Robin van Persie with Holland and Cesc Fabregas with Spain's bench.) It turns out that only two English teams are currently better represented on the remaining eight nations. Here's the breakdown:

Liverpool (5): Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres (ESP), Javier Mascherano and Maxi Rodriguez (ARG), and Dirk Kuyt (NED).
Manchester City (3): Nigel de Jong (NED), Carlos Tevez (ARG), and David Silva (ESP).
Arsenal (2): Robin van Persie (NED) and Cesc Fabregas (ESP).
Everton (1): John Heitinga (NED).
Fulham (1): John Paintsil (GHA).
Newcastle United (1): Jonas Gutierrez (ARG).
Portsmouth (1): Kevin Prince Boateng (GHA).
Tottenham Hotspur (1): Heurelho Gomes (BRA).
Wigan Athletic (1): Richard Kingson (GHA).

Look at some of the teams that aren't on this list. Specifically, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Manchester United. Surprising, no?

Here's our Gunner schedule for the next round:

Robin van Persie: Netherlands v. Brazil, Friday early game (10:00 a.m. EST, 3:00 p.m. BST).
Cesc Fabregas: Spain v. Paraguay, Saturday late game (2:30 p.m. EST, 7:30 p.m. BST).

Transfer Lies and Slander - 6/30/10

Arsenal might just win at knifey-spoony after all! Pic via Daily Telegraph.

IN: 

Laurent Koscielny – The Sun says the deal is done for the Lorient center back at £8.5 million. The Daily Mail says it's £10 million. The Daily Telegraph has the former number. The deal should probably be done by the end of the week. Let's get the Gooner chant machine going!

Mark Schwarzer – That Telegraph article above lists Schwarzer as Arsenal's next number one target signing once the Koscielny contract is inked.

Joe Cole – It's between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur to sign the former Chelsea midfielder. With England out of the World Cup, this deal should be complete within the next two weeks.

Loic Remy – This story has been around before (where I made a good number of Nice puns), but the Nice striker still would like to be a Gunner. Nice's asking price remains too high.

Mario Balotelli – The Inter Milan 19-year-old striker's stay at the San Siro is uncertain and he admits that Arsenal is "a great team."

Madjid Bougherra – The Algerian defender from Rangers in the SPL has spent time in England at Crewe Alexandra, Sheffield Wednesday, and Charlton Athletic, but only his brief stay in South-East London was top flight. With a Koscielny deal essentially done, I can only see this move happening if Sol Campbell departs.

OUT:

Henri Lansbury (LOAN) – Newcastle United is keen on the 19-year-old midfielder, who spent last year in the Championship on loan at Watford, and appeared for the Gunners in the final match of the year against Fulham.

William Gallas – Essentially out the door already, the conversation on his free agent singing appears to now be between Panathinaikos and PSG.

Sol Campbell – Arsenal's policy on contracts with 30+ players might have cost them Sol Campbell, as the big center back is looking for more than a one year deal. It looks like Celtic are willing to offer one.

Eduardo – The Brazilian-born Croatian has struggled with form since his catastrophic leg injury, and after the signing of Chamakh, it appears he may be surplus to necessity at the Emirates. Aston Villa is interested in him to replace the possibly departing John Carew.

Jay Simpson – The 21-year-old reserve forward has spent the last three years away from Arsenal on loan at Millwall, West Brom, and QPR, but as he desires consistent first-team football, he might have to depart the Gunners. A bevy of teams are interested.

International Gunner Watch - Cesc Fabregas

WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Pic via Yahoo.

Spain 1: David Villa 63
Portugal 0

Going into today, if there was a defensive system left in the World Cup which Cesc Fabregas is most adept at unlocking, it was Portugal's. Yes, today would have been the perfect day for Spain to start the Gunner captain.

Instead, Fabregas was left on the bench, behind Xavi, Busquets, and Iniesta (guess for whom all three play) and was never used. Yeah, Xabi Alonso started ahead of Cesc too, but he doesn't play for the club team in question, which plays a 4-3-3 anyway, instead of Spain's 4-4-1-1.

I hope you're paying attention, Cesc. If you're not starting here, you won't start there. It's the same players ahead of you. *coughstayonemoreyearcough*

As for the game itself, what is there to say? David Villa had the goal, again, on a second effort, becoming the first player to score on Portugal in this tournament. Ricardo Costa was send off for Portugal in the 89th for an elbow to the face of Joan Capdevila. Seven of the eight group winners advanced to the quarter-finals, only the United States won their group and were eliminated.

International Gunner Watch - Robin van Persie

Arjen Robben's opener gave Holland a comfortable, if listless, victory. Pic via Guardian.

Netherlands 2: Robben 18, Sneijder 84

Slovakia 1: Vittek 90+4 (pen)

Robin van Persie played 80 minutes of today's 2-1 victory for Holland over Slovakia in the Round of 16, but he, along with many of his Dutch teammates, did not have the best of games. Sure, they won fairly comfortably. It never seemed doubtful that the Dutch would lose this one. But Slovakia were a bit pesky, had one or two chances in the second half, and showed that if the Dutch play like this again on Friday, likely against Brazil, they're probably headed home.

Van Persie has had a great tournament so far, by far the best showing from an Arsenal player. That said, this match was his worst of the four. Arjen Robben scored a brilliant goal in the 18th minute, a classic Dutch strike, in his first start of the tournament, after he suffered a knock in their final friendly before the World Cup. RvP was subbed out in the 80th minute, unhappy with the manager's decision to remove him, even though he's been pulled around that mark in every match of the World Cup so far. Holland scored an insurance goal when the Slovaks fell asleep on a quick free kick in the 84th before pulling one back deep into stoppage time on a penalty kick.

Holland will know their quarter-final opponent later today as Brazil takes on Chile. As before, Arsenal still has two players remaining in the World Cup. Next matches for both are as follows:

Cesc Fabregas: Spain v. Portugal, Tuesday late game (2:30 p.m. EST, 7:30 p.m. BST) 

Robin van Persie: Netherlands v. Brazil or Chile, Friday early game (10:00 a.m. EST, 3:00 p.m. BST)

International Gunner Watch - Carlos Vela

Well, he's not as hurt as I thought at first. Good news? Pic via CBC.

Argentina 3: Tevez 26, 52, Higuain 33

Mexico 1: Hernandez 71

Carlos Vela, who injured his right hamstring in Mexico's second group stage match against France, returned to training before yesterday's Round of 16 match with Argentina, but did not play in El Tri's 3-1 loss to the South American nation. This leaves two Gunners left in the tournament.

Argentina opened the scoring controversially when Carlos Tevez was about seven miles offside. After mass protesting by the Mexican players, they lost their composure and conceded a beauty of a goal to Gonzalo Higuain. Tevez scored again in the second half before soon-to-be Manchester United man Javier Hernandez pinged back one that was too little too late for Mexico.

The good news is that, as opposed to what I previously feared, Vela should be fine for pre-season training with Arsenal. The bad news is there's almost no Arsenal representation left in South Africa, since Fabregas doesn't often start for Spain. So, what's left:

Robin van Persie: Netherlands v. Slovakia, Monday early game LIVE NOW!

Cesc Fabregas: Spain v. Portugal, Tuesday late game (2:30 p.m. EST, 7:30 p.m. BST)

International Gunner Watch - Cesc Fabregas

Oh snap. Pic via Yahoo.

Chile 1: Millar 47
Spain 2: David Villa 24, Iniesta 37

U.S.-supporting Cesc Fabregas and Spain survived their early group stage scare to win Group H, thanks to a 2-1 win over Chile in Pretoria. Fabregas started on the bench again, but entered the match in the 55th minute, replacing a knocked Fernando Torres.

Spain struck first on a gift, as Chilean keeper Claudio Bravo charged out of his box to try to clear a loose ball with a sliding challenge. His clearance was sent directly to David Villa, who chipped an easy opening goal into a gaping net. Andres Iniesta, back in the line-up after injury put Spain up 2-0 just as Chile was put down to ten men after a second yellow card to Marco Estrada, who was booked the second time for a seemingly accidental collision with Torres. Chile pinged one back early in the second half with a goal from halftime substitute Rodrigo Millar in the 47th, but they could never find the equalizer. Chile will advance to face Brazil anyway, as Switzerland and Honduras played to a 0-0 draw.

With group play complete, Arsenal is left with three players remaining in the tournament. Carlos Vela has returned to training for Mexico and might potentially be available for their Round of 16 date with Argentina on Sunday. The Gunner schedule for the Round of 16:

Carlos Vela: Mexico v. Argentina, Sunday late game (2:30 p.m. EST, 7:30 p.m. BST)
Robin van Persie: Netherlands v. Slovakia, Monday early game (10:00 a.m. EST, 3:00 p.m. BST)
Cesc Fabregas: Spain v. Portugal, Tuesday late game (2:30 p.m. EST, 7:30 p.m. BST)

International Gunner Watch - Emmanuel Eboue

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For no reason, here's Gunnersaurus with a baby. Pic via Junior Gunners.

North Korea 0
Côte d'Ivoire 3: Yaya Toure 14, Romaric 20, Kalou 82

Emmanuel Eboue and the Ivorians did not get the eleventy billion goals they needed to make up the goal differential deficit against Portugal, and as such, have crashed out of the 2010 World Cup. Seven of the ten Gunners in South Africa have now been eliminated; only two have had their sides advance as of yet (with Spain playing later), and one of those two players is now out hurt for the remainder of the finals (and it's Vela and not van Persie!)

Les Elephants needed to make up a nine goal deficit against Portugal after the Iberian side defeated North Korea 7-0 earlier this week; they also needed Portugal to lose to Brazil, which also didn't happen after their 0-0 draw that saw both of those sides advance.

The Ivorians had a slew of great chances at the start, and through twenty minutes were, in fact, on pace to win 9-0. But the goals would not come, two were negated on offside calls, and numerous chances went just wide. Eboue started on the back line rather than in midfield, had several dangerous crosses, but no assists, and the Ivory Coast once against has crashed out of a Group of Death.

International Gunner Watch - Most Gunners Out!

It's been a while since I've updated this (sorry!), but basically, since the last update, most Gunners in the tournament have had their nations eliminated. In a way, this is good news; one Arsenal player has already been hurt (Vela), we really can't stand any more.

Emmanuel Eboue's tournament will likely end tomorrow unless he scores ten goals or something; Cesc Fabregas and Spain could possibly be a shock elimination too, if they lose or draw to Chile and don't get help.

France 1: Malouda 70
South Africa 2: Khumalo 20, Mphela 37

France's nightmare of a tournament ended Tuesday with a 2-1 loss to the host nation. After the ridiculous walk out/mutiny/etc, four Gunners started for the French against South Africa (Sagna, Gallas, Clichy, and Diaby.) Hugo Lloris misplayed a cross into the box leading to South Africa's first goal and Gael Clichy lost the ball at his feet, leading to the second, with Yoann Gourcuff sent off for the French in between. Flourent Malouda scored a consolation goal late.

Cameroon 1: Eto'o 65 (pen)
Netherlands 2: van Persie 36, Huntelaar 83

If Spain manages to get knocked out of the tournament tomorrow, Robin van Persie will be the only Arsenal player who is both healthy and has his team still in the tournament at the same time (Mexico has advanced, but Carlos Vela is hurt.)

Van Persie scored the opener for the Dutch today, who were already assured of a slot in the knockout stage. It was van Persie's first of the World Cup, having set up a few others for the Oranje. Samuel Eto'o equalized for already eliminated Cameroon before van Persie's replacement, Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored the winner, his second of the World Cup finals.

Alex Song played all 90 minutes for Cameroon.

Denmark 1: Tomasson 81
Japan 3: Honda 17, Endo 30, Okazaki 87

Nicklas Bendtner, groin injury and all, played 90 minutes for the now eliminated Danes, who were outclassed by Japan from the start. Japan took a 2-0 lead in the first half hour, both strikes from direct free kicks. The Danes pulled one back after Jon Dahl Tomasson badly had a penalty saved only to poke home the rebound, but were finished when substitute Shinji Okazaki closed the scoring.

Bendtner was booked for getting his elbow too high on a challenge for a header by a referee that seemed to enjoy showing yellow cards; five players were booked in all.

International Gunner Watch - Cesc Fabregas

Ball levitation skills don't earn you a start with Spain? Pic via Guardian.

Cesc Fabregas, who probably already plays for Barcelona in the deluded minds of their front office, made his first appearance of the 2010 World Cup for Spain yesterday, in a 2-0 win over Honduras. Fabregas replaced Xavi and nearly put his first touch of the tournament into a wide open net, were it not saved at the line by a defender at the last second.

In the match itself, David Villa scored twice, while also rattling the crossbar and blatantly missing a penalty kick, so really, he probably should have had eight goals, or something. But he also got away with a blatant hit to the face of a defender, which only means one thing: players are only sent off for hits to the face when the performance of the defender hit is worthy of an Academy Award.

As we speak, four Gunners are in the line-up for Les Train Wreck France, including three on the back line. France is losing anyway.