Arsenal.com's International Watch reports back to base on those who have temporarily swapped the red of Arsenal for the colours of their national sides. Read on for the latest news...
Nicklas Bendtner
Northern Ireland 2-1 Denmark, November
17, Denmark 3-0 Iceland, November 21
A second goal in five days for Nicklas Bendtner set Denmark on
their way to comfortable 3-0 win over Iceland. Former Newcastle man
Jon Dahl Tomasson and then Thomas Kahlenberg rounded off the
scoring as the Danes finished an inconsistent campaign on a high.
Arsenal's striker was withdrawn six minutes from the end having
assisted with the final goal, and will return to the Club in very
good spirits.
Eduardo
Macedonia 2-0 Croatia , November
17, England 2-3 Croatia, Nov 21
Eduardo did little to endear himself to the English public as his
Croatian side tore England apart in the opening 14 minutes at
Wembley. First Niko Kranjcer's short squirmed past the hapless
Scott Carson in the Englishman's competitive debut and then
Ivica Olic converted a fine pass from Arsenal's front man. The
hosts responded well in the second half with goals from Frank
Lampard and Peter Crouch, but substitute Mladen Petric rifled home
13 minutes from time to send Croatia through as group winners and
England out.
Cesc Fabregas
Spain 3-0 Sweden, November
17, Spain 1-0 Northern Ireland, November 21
Northern Ireland's feint hopes of reaching Euro 2008 were
dashed in Spain on Wednesday night. Cesc Fabregas was hugely
impressive for the hosts in the opening period, picking astute
passes from midfield and even stinging the goalkeeper's hands
with a long-range effort. He was substituted just after the restart
shortly before Xavi grabbed the game's only goal on 52
minutes.
William Gallas, Bacary Sagna, Lassana Diarra, Mathieu
Flamini
France 2-2 Morocco, November 16, Ukraine 2-2 France,
November 21
An already-qualified French side ended the campaign with an
enthralling 2-2 draw in the Ukraine. William Gallas and Lasanna
Diarra both completed 90 minutes in a match that saw Premier League
stars past and present find the back of the net. First
Liverpool's Andriy Voronin scored but Thierry Henry and then
Sidney Govou gave the French a half-time lead before Chelsea's
Andriy Shevchenko levelled the scores just after the break.
Lukasz Fabianski
Poland v Belgium, November 17, Serbia 2-0 Poland,
November 21
Lukasz Fabianski was handed a rare start for Poland as they secured
top spot in Group A with a 2-2 draw in Belgrade. The result ended
the hopes of Serbia who, despite rallying strongly in the
second-half, crashed out of the tournament as Portugal went
through. Rafal Murawski and Radoslaw Matusiak scored for the Poles
before goals from Nikola Zigic and Danko Lazovic earned a share of
the spoils.
Alexander Hleb
Albania 2-4 Belarus, November 17, Belarus 2-1
Holland, Nov 21
Belarus were out and Holland already through, so the game in Minsk
offered little by way of significance. However goals from Vitali
Bulyga and Vladimir Korythko in the second half, after Alex Hleb
had been withdrawn at the interval, meant the hosts claimed a 2-1
victory over the much-favoured Dutch. Rafael van der Vaart grabbed
a late consolation for Marco van Basten's team.
Gilberto
Peru v Brazil, November 18, Brazil 2-1 Uruguay, November 21
Gilberto came through another 90 minutes for Brazil as they
recovered from an early set-back to defeat Uruguay 2-1 in Sao
Paulo. Sevilla's Luis Fabiano, who is likely to line-up against
the Gunners in next week's Champions League match, grabbed a
brace for the Brazilians after Sebastian Abreu had netted inside 10
minutes for the visitors.
Jens Lehmann
Germany 4-0 Cyprus, November 17, Germany 0-0 Wales,
November 21
Jens Lehmann has played 180 minutes of football with his country
during this international break without conceding a goal. The
German stopper is trying to force his way back into the Arsenal
starting line-up and his recent performances will have done him no
harm. Wales, playing simply for pride, did just that as they ended
a disappointing campaign with arguably their best performance.
Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue
Angola 2-1 Ivory Coast, November 17, Ivory Coast 6-1
Qatar, November 21
Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue were in the Ivory Coast squad which
dished out a 6-1 thrashing of Qatar. Chelsea's Salomon Kalou
netted a hat-trick and Abdulkader Keita grabbed a brace. An own
goal midway through the second half completed the rout.
Theo Walcott, Matthew Connolly
Portugal Under-21 1-1 England Under-21, November 20
Theo Walcott earned that rare thing - the praise of opposition
supporters - after an impressive display for England Under-21s in
Portugal. Chants of 'Theo, Theo' were heard among the home
fans as the Arsenal forward tormented the Portugal defence with his
pace and trickery. Adelino Vieirinha fired the hosts ahead from the
penalty spot and Walcott went close before Adam Johnson equalised
with a volley from Joe Mattock's long throw. Walcott, operating
as a lone striker in a depleted England side, forced a fine save
from Ricardo Batista after another mazy run as the visitors
finished strongly. Arsenal defender Matthew Connolly was an unused
substitute. The 1-1 draw leaves England six points clear of
Portugal at the top of Group Three with a place at Euro 2009 well
within their reach.
Tomas Rosicky
Czech Republic 3-1 Slovakia, November 17, Cyprus 0-2
Czech Republic, November 21
With the Czech Republic guaranteed a place at Euro 2008, Tomas
Rosicky was relieved of his duties with his country and returned to
Arsenal earlier this week. He would have happily watched on
though as Daniel Pudil and Jan Koller netted in a 2-0 win over
Cyprus that assured top spot for Karel Bruckner's team.
