03 September 2014
During the customary September international break, a total of thirteen Bianconeri will be with their national teams after receiving call-ups for the upcoming round of friendlies and various qualifiers.
Six of the players selected from Massimiliano Allegri’s side will be joining the Azzurri for their friendly with Holland in Bari on Thursday 4 September before commencing their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign with a trip to Oslo to face Norway five days later.
Antonio Conte originally elected to name Gigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Claudio Marchisio and Sebastian Giovinco in his 27-man-squad but then added Angelo Ogbonna late on Monday evening as a replacement for the injured Gabriel Paletta.
Elsewhere, French duo Patrice Evra and Paul Pogba are among Didier Deschamps’ call-ups for the two friendly matches against Spain this Thursday and Serbia on Sunday. Kingsley Coman is also in Les Bleus’ U21 squad for their upcoming 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship matches with Kazakhstan and Iceland.
Wingbacks Kwadwo Asamoah and Stephan Lichtsteiner will also be in action with Ghana and Switzerland respectively. The Black Stars face Uganda and Togo in two crucial qualifiers for January’s African Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco whilst the Swiss will hope to get their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign off to a winning start when they entertain England in Basel on Monday evening.
South American duo Martin Caceres and Arturo Vidal will also be representing their respective nations over the course of the international break. Caceres’ Uruguay travel to Asia to face Japan on Friday 5 September and South Korea three days later whilst Vidal’s Chile play in two friendlies with Mexico and Haiti in both the early hours of Sunday and Wednesday.
The full list of fixtures concerning the Bianconeri is as follows:
Thursday 4 September
Kazakhstan U21 v France U21 (Euro 2015 qualifier), 16.15 CET – Coman
Italy v Holland (friendly), 20.45 CET – Buffon, Bonucci, Chiellini, Ogbonna, Marchisio and Giovinco
France v Spain (friendly), 21.00 CET - Pogba and Evra
Friday 5 September
Japan v Uruguay (friendly), 12.25 CET - Caceres
Saturday 6 September
Ghana v Uganda (2015 African Cup of Nations qualifier), 18.00 CET – Asamoah
Sunday 7 September
Chile v Mexico (friendly), 04.00 CET – Vidal
Serbia v France (friendly), 20.45 CET – Pogba and Evra
Monday 8 September
South Korea v Uruguay (friendly), 12.45 CET - Caceres
Switzerland v England (Euro 2016 qualifier), 20.45 CET - Lichtsteiner
France U21 v Iceland U21 (Euro 2015 qualifier), 21.00 CET – Coman
Tuesday 9 September
Norway v Italy (Euro 2016 qualifier), 20.45 CET – Buffon, Bonucci, Chiellini, Ogbonna, Marchisio and Giovinco
Wednesday 10 September
Chile v Haiti (friendly), 01.00 CET – Vidal
Togo v Ghana (2015 African Cup of Nations qualifier), 18.00 CET– Asamoah
