Gunners Impress On International Duty
Sep 9th, 2007 by 'holic
So far, so good. The international reports I have seen contain no injury scares for us. I hope it stays that way.
Most news about the Gunners on duty was encouraging. Eduardo grabbed a first-half brace as Croatia eased past Estonia in what is starting to develop into a ‘group of death’. England remain in contention after brushing aside the Israeli challenge. David Bentley made a brief appearance as substitute and the crowd left him in no doubt as to how they viewed his decision not to play for the under 21’s in the summer.
Tomas Rosicky opened the scoring for the Czech Republic as they won in San Marino. It is really refreshing to see Arsenal’s midfielders hitting the target regularly at the start of this season. Please let it continue.
New signing Lassana Diarra won rave reviews for his appearance at right-back for France against Italy in Milan. See here for what may possibly be a red and blue tinted review.
Jens Lehmann completed ninety minutes, and a clean sheet, for Germany in Wales. I’m pleased for him, but I suspect his recent ‘injury’ will not be sufficiently healed for him to play against Tottenham on Saturday.
The midweek fixtures remain and we must hope for another injury-free round of matches. I have to confess, with mouthwatering games coming up at the Lane and against Sevilla I am finding it harder than ever to work up any enthusiasm for the internationals.
Is that so wrong?
3 Responses to “Gunners Impress On International Duty”
Dudu’s 2nd goal was an extremely good strike, and the 1st one was an acrobatic kick in the box. If he can replicate some of the form that sees him 2nd top scorer in the Qualifiers, for Arsenal, it will be extremely pleasing.
It is good to hear Diarra doing well. Should do his confidence a world of good, especially since its been a while that he has got a decent run of games for club.
Many Arsenal supporters have no love for international breaks – perhaps, especially, British and Irish supporters. The disappointment of too many quarter-final exits could be a factor. Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Ireland rarely look like threatening to win a world cup. The press coverage of the English national team could be enough to turn anyone off.
In my football discussions with non-Britons, mostly citizens France, Ghana, and the U.S., the enthusiasm for the international game still surpasses the interest in club football – although the Champions League is right up there for some of them.
The French national team captures the interest of France because of the talented players coming into the team, the success the team has had, and because the level of play is higher than in the French league.
From a neutral’s perspective, I find the England team quite interesting, but I can see that frustration and disinterest are the prevailing sentiment among England supporters. As soon as England wins the world cup, though, that will all turn around.
SWP and Richards were looking really classy for England, but I wouldn’t worry about the lack of international enthusiasm Senor Holic – I’m sure you are not alone – especially with what is happening, and has happened at our club. What we have in store at club level this season feels like an endless series of Christmas presents… the excitement and tension are a pleasure!
Maybe its becuase it’s the first time in so many years that we started off the season as write-offs, but seeing our squad emerge from Henry’s influence with such spirit is great, and makes the whole experience edgier. As does watching us get stuck in for games up North, watching Sagna slot in and play so well, and waiting and wondering if Eduardo and Bendtner will reproduce their Croatia and Birmingham form for us. Add to this the small matter of a game on the 15th, and these are happy days!