Cesc Fabregas playing for Spain
Where's the footy?
By Kevin Mooney
Throughout the season this will happen. We just get used to waking up on a weekend morning, flipping on the TV (or Arsenal TV Online of course) and sitting down to a scintillating 90 minutes of Arsenal. But then, much to our dismay, there is no Premier League soccer to be had! Instead, all we find is Finland battling Azerbaijan on live TV or perhaps a 2004 La Liga match between Barcelona and Levante.
An international break is upon us.
Yet another peculiarity about soccer is that several times each season league matches are put on hold for a couple of weeks, and the players split off to every corner of the globe to link-up with their national teams. Like many of the top teams in Europe, most of Arsenal's first-team players are internationals, which means they play for their home country for tournaments or exhibition games, known as friendlies.
On one hand, these breaks often come at inopportune moments, such as when the team starts to gain some momentum. Plus, we live in fear that our players will get injured while playing or training with their national teams and Arsenal as a team will suffer for it.
But on the other hand, as a fan of the game, you have to love it – we can see numerous matches featuring many familiar faces, including Arsenal players who sometimes line up against each other. This weekend, Cesc Fabregas and Spain will take on Thomas Vermaelen and Belgium in La Coruna. Other matches of interest during the break: Nicklas Bendtner and his Danish squad will battle Cristiano Ronaldo's Portuguese team and Robin van Persie will see action against Japan and Scotland. And let us not forget the budding rivalry that is England vs. the Eduardo-led Croatians. For the full schedule, check FIFA's website.
While most major international tournaments such as the World Cup and Euro take place during the Premier League’s off-season, one major tournament actually takes place during the season. The African Cup of Nations, or ACN, is held every two years and lasts for about one month in late January and early February. Teams with players from African nations must simply play on without some of their key players. Arsenal stands to lose the services of Alex Song (Cameroon) and Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast).
Don't get too used to the time off, however. Before you know it, Premier League action will be back as Arsenal takes on Manchester City on September 12th. And we'll be sure to see some familiar faces on the field there too.
