INTERNATIONAL BLUEBIRDS

Nine players in International action this week

NINE City players will be in action for their countries during international duty this week, the latest being Declan John who has been called-up for Wales for the first time by boss Chris Coleman.

The young City full-back replaces Swansea City's Jazz Richards in the squad to face Macedonia and Serbia, joining City team-mate Craig Bellamy in Chris Coleman's Wales squad. Wales travel to Macedonia and Skopje on Friday, 6th September before returning to Cardiff to face Serbia at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday, 10th September.

John's call-up follows an England call for defender Steven Caulker on Sunday. Steven has one previous England cap to his name, having started and scored against Sweden in Stockholm in November 2012. He will join Roy Hodgson's England squad at St. George's Park on Monday ahead of their qualification fixtures against Moldova and Ukraine.

Midfielders Kim Bo-Kyung, Aron Gunnarsson, Gary Medel and Craig Conway have been callled-up by South Korea, Iceland, Chile and Scotland respectively while there’s also call-ups for David Marshall with Scotland and Rudy Gestede for Benin.

Kim Bo Kyung with travel to South Korea for two friendly clashes with the first against Haiti taking place in Incheon on Friday, 6th September before facing Croatia in Jeonju the following Tuesday, 10th September. Kim Bo will be looking to add to his 19 caps and 2 goals for his country.



Tenacious midfielder Gary Medel will travel to Santiago, Chile for their  World Cup qualifying match with Venezuela on Friday, 6th September before returning to Europe and Geneva for a friendly match with World Cup and European champions Spain the following Tuesday, 10th September. The latest of Medel’s 52 caps came this month in ‘La Roja’s’ resounding 6-0 friendly victory over Iraq.

Midfield partner Aran Gunnarsson has been called-up to make his return at Iceland captain in their upcoming World Cup qualifying clashes with Switzerland and Albania. Gunnar is set to take on the Swiss in Berne on Friday, 6th September before returning to Reykjavik to take on Albania on Tuesday, 10th September.

 

Elsewhere, City striker Rudy Gestede will travel to Porto-Novo to represent Benin in their World Cup qualification clash with Rwanda on Sunday, 8th September.

As confirmed early this week, goalkeeper David Marshall and midfielder Craig Conway have been called-up to the Scotland squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Belgium and Macedonia.

All players will travel to join up with their relevant national squads following the Bluebirds Premier League clash with Everton at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday, returning ahead of  City’s visit to Hull City on Saturday, 14th September.