Twelve called up for qualifiers and friendlies

FCBayernNews · News fetcher Joined: 31 Aug 2006 Posts: 1323 votes: 2

02.10.2006

The Bundesliga takes a break for a round of internationals next weekend, with Bayern sending their customary sizeable contingent to represent their countries. Twelve of the first-team squad will spend the next week or so away from Munich, with the Europeans mainly in Euro 2008 qualifying action and the South American party contesting friendly matches.

Germany stars Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski will see both varieties of international action, with a warm-up fixture against Georgia on Saturday 7 October in Rostock, followed by a crunch European Championship showdown with Slovakia on Wednesday 11 October in Bratislava.

U-21 Euro play-off for Rensing and Ottl

Both Willy Sagnol and Daniel van Buyten must negotiate twin Euro 2008 qualifying hurdles. Sagnol and France face a stern challenge on Saturday against Scotland in Glasgow, before taking on the Faeroe Islands four days later in Socheaux. Van Buyten and his Belgium team-mates go for points against Serbia in Belgrade and Azerbaidzhan at the Anderlecht stadium in Brussels.

Arguably the biggest showdown over the next few days features Germany U-21 stars Michael Rensing and Andreas Ottl as they do battle with their England counterparts for a place at the U-21 European championships in the Netherlands next summer. The arch-rivals meet on Friday in Coventry, with the decisive return next Tuesday in Leverkusen.

Three matches for Ali

Further afield, Ali Karimi and his Iran team-mates approach the climax to qualifying for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup with their penultimate group fixture in Taipei on 11 October away to Taiwan, who have yet to register a point or score a goal. The Iranians warm up for the match with two friendlies, meetings with Iraq on 4 October and Jordan on 6 October. Both games will be staged in Jordanian capital Amman.

Meanwhile, Bayern's South American contingent are hoping to impress their national coaches in friendly action. Paraguay regulars Roque Santa Cruz and Julio dos Santos twice meet Australia in Brisbane in a true double-header set for 7 and 8 October, while Claudio Pizarro also has two games against the same opponents with home and away meetings against Chile on 7 and 11 October. Brazil World Cup winner Lucio and his men take on Ecuador in the Swedish town of Solna on 10 October.