A quick International Break round-up before I head off to a birthday breakfast with my family.
Robin van Persie was stretchered off after 11 minutes of Holland’s game against Italy with an ankle injury. Dutch TV reported he will be out for 2-3 months after tearing ankle ligaments. It’s awful news for both van Persie and Arsenal but will open the door for Eduardo (who scored twice for Croatia) to step in with Nicklas Bendtner also out with a groin problem.
Alex Song will be off the World Cup after his Cameroon side completed a 2-0 win over Morocco to qualify for 2010. Meanwhile a French side containing William Gallas and Bacary Sagna beat Ireland 1-0 at Croke Park to edge closer and Andrey Arshavin helped Russia to a 2-1 over Slovenia in their World Cup qualifier. Both sides should complete the job in the second leg.
As someone with a New Zealand parent (Hi Mum!) I’m happy to say that the All Whites also qualified for the World Cup, beating Bahrain 1-0 in Wellington. It was a fabulous game and a great result for a team that hasn’t qualified for 1982. To all the Kiwi readers out there – and I know there’s a few – congratulations!
Although it’s completely unrelated to Arsenal I think it would be criminal to fail to mention the incredible World Cup qualifier that took place in between Egypt and Algeria in Cairo. The equation before the game was that Egypt needed to beat Algeria by three goals to go through in their place or by two goals to force a play-off between the same two sides. Unbelievably they won 2-0 with a goal in the 96th minute with the play-off scheduled for Wednesday. This video says it all.
Anyway that’s it. Absolutely gutted by the van Persie injury but on the plus side we’ve seen a number of our players edge closer to the World Cup.
Thoughts?
Have your say on all things Arsenal or the World Cup by leaving a comment.
Freakin hell. Van Persie injured on international duty with Holland already through. Fuck the interlull.
This is the ultimate test for Arsenal – this is when the injuries start rolling in. Our injury list as usual is starting to look a bit bleak!
Dutchman here. Pretty bad. May miss the rest of the season, that kind of injury. He was crying, screaming in pain. I nearly joined him. VEry scared for our title chances…
@ haho – Do you think you could keep us informed of any fresh news? Would be greatly appreciated.
Also, it’s awful news.
Looking at the first team squad forwards, apart from Eduardo and Arshavin – we don’t have anyone else! All injured – Van Persie, Bendtner, Walcott, Vela.
If I didn’t shave my head, I’d be pulling my hair out about van Persie’s injury. He was off to such a fabulous start and really settled into that front striker role. No words to describe how I angry I am that he was even playing in the match today. What a freakin’ waste.
Since Bendtner’s out for a bit still, I wonder if we might switch back to the 4-4-2 with Eduardo & Shava up front? Dudu’s a natural striker, but might need some help up front, and Shava’s natural position is as second striker. With Nasri & Rosicky back and Theo on the way, we should be fine with midfield cover to allow the switch.
Looking forward, and depending on just how long RVP will be out, this result might just push AW to buying Chamakh or Huntelaar for cover in January unless the offense continues apace in RVP’s absence.
Ramsey was the star man for Wales in their 3-0 over Scotland. He set up the 1st, set up the assist for the 2nd and scored a stunning 3rd. He must play more!!!!
ABSOULTELY GUTTED ABOUT RVP! He always gets injured on international duty, I hope Wenger is looking for Compo from the Dutch Football Association.
This figures.
RvP is probably the best player in the Dutch team, I dare say they know what he can do so why play him in a friendly like this? I’m sure Le Boss will have a few choice words to say on the matter.
Incredible loss for Arsenal, especially with concurrent injuries to Walcott and Bendtner.
can we please now get rid of friendlies once and for all? the news just ruined my night.
Really gutted for van persie, hes been fantastic for us this year, along with fabregas, our best player.
I hope vela finally gets his chance now. He should be back around the end of the international break. Its absurd how few opportunities hes had so far given his obvious talent.
No offence, but I’ll wait till Arsenal.com confirm how long RVP’s gonna be out for.
This F*ing sucks ass!! Can we all agree to ban international football? If people would just STOP GOING TO THE GAMES maybe we can put it to death forever.
Birthday wishes to Andy! Hope you have a great time.
This Van Persie injury really puts paid to a title push in my opinion – as serious as that sounds. With Bendtner out too we have no physical presence up front and Eduardo will have some task on his hands to lead that line. With Walcott returning we have other outlets but aside from Cesc, Robin was the man we had to keep fit this season. He is THAT important to our chances and if he is going to missing until the transfer window then I fear that would be too much for us considering the injuries we’ve already got.
Arsene will probably put Eduardo through the middle but I think he will seriously consider having Diaby as the furthest forward of the midfield three in order to offer the height outlet.
Horrible RVP news. Very worried now. WOuld love to get a Dzeko type over January. Im almost heartbroken except…
… I am originally from Egypt so I have much reason to celebrate. Words can honestly not explain what happened today. This was one of the most intense atmospheres in the history of world sport and for it to end that way… Cairo will probably shut down until after the World Cup if we make it on Wednesday…
Hello, I’m a Dutch watcher (and Feyenoord-fan), as Dirk Kuijt (I know from Liverpool, but anyway)already stated: this was not a friendly match. Those Italians were more out for the ankles than the ball. If thats what you have got to offer as home country in a friendly match (which was organized in Pescara because of the earthquake)why ask ” us” to play anyway.
OMFG.
Deja Vu.
Here I was celebrating that Chelsea would be minus Lampard for our fixture and now I am devastated to read the news about RvP – typical. All for a meager international friendly were half-ass teams are fielded. Unfortunately I think this will lead to a poor run of results until Bendtner can reach match fitness, could do with that Moroccan right about now 🙁 /fu Holland.
This is a real litmus test for Arsenal, to cope without star players, to test out stength in depth. I’ve done my research and actually Arsenal have the 2nd biggest squad in the big 4. However, losing someone like RVP is devastating, it will either allow squad players to step up or force Wenger to finally pursue a striker in January.
Not to fear, Eduardo’s here!
I’m assuming we’ll start hearing Chamakh(sp?) rumors soon.
I’m fairly annoyed about RVP’s injury. I don’t think Chiellini actually did much wrong but it is a terrible shame.
10 weeks looks to be an early assessment, we’ll have to wait and see though.
grrrr.ths wat i ws afraid off.i h8 internationals…i hope its not serious.i hope arsenal wont b affected..call it karma.i ws celebratin cole lampard n drogba injury.then ths happen.shit.
Shit! I don’t believe what I am hearing! Fate is so cruel n the way this guy was fairing well.AW have to sign another experienced striker apart from Eduardo.
hate it………………….
in a friendly match? HATE
I’ve been looking at the RVP incident now several times and I can’t see how the hell he injured his ankle so badly. I made my dad watch as well who is an experienced doctor and he couldn’t see anything happening to the ankle except for maybe hurting it in the tumble.
He looked to be in agonizing pain which is a bad sign
but after watching it so many times I still don’t understand what happened. Here’s to hoping the scans reveal a maximum 1 week lay off!
From what I can see on the internet there has yet to be any official word on the extent of his injury.
Fuck me. His injury is the same type that caused van Basten to retire. =O
Not looking good at all.
I hate int friendly
That injury is a result of physical fatigue. There is just too much football being played now; expect disjointed coordination between the body and mind due to this physical fatigue. If indeed the dutch expect Robin to lead the line at the world cup they should have given him a break during the two weeks. (After all they claim to be happy with his new role at Arsenal!) All top players for all the nations who have already qualified for the world cup should have also been given a break. Otherwise come June 2010 most players will be fatigued. I repeat it is stupid the amount of football that is been played.
Heart breaking! I officially hate international football.. This was going to be THE season for Rvp. May be its God punishing me for celebrating Drogba’s broken rib.
the news about rvp,s injury is devastating for our title challenge i cant f..cking believe it,now we have a real problem as we have no physical presence up front as neither eduardo or vela when he is fit can hold the ball up or bring others in to play.no news on the website yet but if rvp is out for a while we cant strengthen the squad until january by which time it could be too late,first walcott out all season so far because of england now rvp!!
So depressed right now. I’m from south africa but cancel international football if this going to be the trend.
Dont forget AW that you also have one or two regular readers from Bahrain, namely me 😀 i actually cried when i saw my country’s chances crushed under the kiwi’s feet, the better team obviously won but i still cant help feeling sad, this was our only chance to qualify and have never qualified for the world cup ever!!!
My heart goes out to RvP.
As Manuel states above, the demands of club and country football physically take their toll on every athlete. There are just too many matches squeezed into the calendar.
Face it, our sport is a slave to media purse strings and top players at times (as this friendly) are over played.
For Arsenal, this is a team sport, and Arsenal do have players to fill the RvP void: Nasri, Arshavin, Eduardo immediately & Theo, Vela, and Wilshere in the short term. (Bendtner in 4 weeks)
Just as Song needed playing time to raise his confidence and nurture his play, now is another opportunity for other Arsenal players to STEP UP THEIR GAME.
There goes the passion of the team right there. Time for Song to step up and show some more emotion/take a leadership role.
BECAUSE OF RVP BEING INJURED, ARSENAL NEED TO BUY OR LOAN A PLAYER IN THE JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW, EDUARDO AND BENDTNER CAN NOT MAKE RVP EXPECTATIONS
I HOPE WENGER IS GONA READ THIS
Wenger must be pissed at the news. This shouldn’t be happening in a useless friendly. Who’s the animal behind this?
As bad as I feel about VP’s injury (and believe me I do), it is an opportunity to try out others. I thought Arshavin and Edwardo always wanted to play at center forward, so is Theo when he comes back. We have Song, Fab, Nasri, and Rosicky in midfield. We may not have the height, but RVP never really went for headers either as he would be taking the corners and free kicks.
Edwardo needs the games for sure to get back to his best. As to Chelsea’s game, I believe everyone raises his game in big games like that. I want them to put away Chelsea once and for all.
International friendlies are supposed to be to try out fringe players and bringing in new ones for the future specially if your team has already qualified. I have a feeling some of the big teams just don’t want to lose a game so that it doesn’t affect their FIFA rankings. Italy v Holland game was played like a grudge match in midfield, not that many chances in the final third. Just meaningless if you ask me!
it sucks that van persie has gone out but the way he had gone out i mean he went out in a freindly that just sucks so much it if you get knocked out by something that is not moving why does november give us injurys hopefully sonmeone like rosicky or nasri can step in
lads we are victims of our own success in many ways…our manager takes these guys and either improves or moulds them from scratch into the outstandin individuals they are now…but when their at our club they are a unit and all row in together,i mean no1 outside our club feels we hav ‘superstars’,bar cesc maybe,the difference is when they go for int duty many of our players are like a talisman for their country.just look @ RvP,arsha,du du,bendtner,verm,vela,song,rosicky and now ramsey at such a young age.its just an unfortunate fact that if these guys are 70% fit their managers feel obligated to play them….i watched the czechs play n.ireland in a nothing end of group match a few weeks ago and nearly put my foot thru the tele when i seen they started ros after he played the last 20mins for us in his comeback game after been out for 18mths….just how much dialogue goes on between our gaffer and those int ones?
rvps injury is a hammer blow for us as hes been white hot lately and its not just his leain the line and scoring….his assists and link up are somethin that cant be replaced by another indivdual in our current squad….real test for the boys now…and please god our other players that hav work to do wed nite come thru unscathed
Update from Holland about RVP:
Partially torn, more likely 1-2 months than 2-3.
http://www.vi.nl/Nieuws-item/172523/Onderzoek-in-ziekenhuis-bevestigt-diagnose-Van-Persie.htm
Sorry couldn’t edit it. Better link: http://www.nusport.nl/oranje/2123596/enkelband-van-persie-gedeeltelijk-ingescheurd.html
Also saying no surgery needed.
@ Nezar Eid – Sorry there, didn’t really think about that. You guys were so close but I guess that’s not going to matter much to you now. What was the reaction in Bahrain like?
@ sirish – Please don’t extract entire articles from other blogs. It is a breach of copyright law.
For those wanting to read it the link is: http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2009/11/who-replaces-van-persie-and-bendtner-now-both-have-long-term-injuries/
@ Björn – Thanks for the update.
i’m gutted for VP. Not worried bout our attacking options though, we have enough in depth, may require a shift in formation though. On a more positive note, the injury will allow Eduardo to become our main striker and the kids of Carling Cup to fight for their place. It may be a blessing in disguise, as it be interesting to see who lines up against City in the Carling Cup.
VP has been on fire this season. To watch him injure himself again after being out for most of the past seasons is a blow.
All the best for VP.
Latest update – RVP only expected to be out for 5-7 weeks.
LINK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/15/holland-arsenal
oooo good waht heeepan 2 robin good player way come unjury
Iam so sorry for our striker RVP to be injury and i will pray for him to ask GOD to help our centerforward to recover as soon as possible.But all Arsenal fans do not worry to much because this season we have nice team and we going to win more than two trophies.Arshavin,Eduardo and Vella will make our team to shine this year.
It is very tearful that we’ve lost him at a time he was at his best. we surely needed him.
Losing a player like Diaby, is not really very bad as such.
We wish him a quick recovery.
Its sad 2 loose him. Pretty bad!!
4-6 weeks is the prognosis they’re giving on RVP now which is a relief although obviously still incredibly annoying that it’s happened while he was in probably the best form of his life. And with the Chelsea match coming where he could have wreaked havoc -remember last season? Hopefully AW will have a plan worked out to deal with the situation til RVP comes back. I love Eduardo so, as has been said, it’ll be a chance for him to shine.
I’d also like to see Ramsey in now, first choice (instead of Dopey) as I think he’s more than proved himself. It’s incredible to think he’s only 18. He’s a bit special ain’t he? We may just have yet another gem on our hands there.
So -best wishes and a speedy recovery to RVP. I have to admit that after I heard the news all I could think about was ‘There goes our chances!” without a thought for the man himself and how cheesed off he must be. Get well soon, mate.
Well now is the time for our support strikers to come to the fore. According to the rumour mills Eduardo was getting p***ed that he wasn’t getting regular games and was looking at going to the scoucers, can’t believe that but he now has the chance to step up to the plate. Maybe Vela will get some chances as well, Theo comes back and we have Arsh as well. With Nasri and Rosicky we have two very talented wide players which will leave room for the others to go up front. Roll on Saturday and Sunderland.
@ AW the reaction was total devastation sadness and animosity towards one of our players who took the penalty and missed.. i have no idea why he kicked the ball so softly for the keeper to catch easily..as i said before we have never qualified before and this was seriously a sickening blow, the match was at 10 AM our time and the government should be happy that saturday is a holiday for us otherwise no Bahraini citizen would go to work just to watch :p
Denise, you are amazing! Great post. I really wish I could join in in Jamaica, mon!