Jesus Navas earns call-up: Spain v Argentina 14.11.09

Today Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque named his squad for the two friendlies against Argentina and Austria. The first tie is a mouthwatering prospect against Maradona's Argentina side, fresh from scraping into the 2010 World Cup after defeating Uruguay in their final group stage clash, with the match honouring the 100 year anniversary of the Spanish Football Federation. Del Bosque's boys will then travel down to Vienna (Ernst Happel Stadium), where Spain will have more than fond memories of that historic Euro 2008 victory over Germany.

Novelties in the Spain squad have been hard to come by since that win (must be the hardest squad in world football to break into), but todays announcement saw the introduction of  'speedy-gonzalez' Jesus Navas into the 'La Roja' set-up. People have been clamouring for Navas' inclusion for some time, but as a result of anxiety attacks and chronic homesickness, Sevilla have been holding him back in an attempt to cure the problem. Recently he made it clear he felt he had overcome these unfortunate obstacles and was ready for a call-up, and good old Vicente hasnt let him down. The boy who used to find youth matches so easy he dribbled around the puddles, has his chance to transfer his red-hot league form into international football.

More information on Jesus Navas HERE  (Courtesy of Wikipedia)


Spain Squad to face Argentina (14 Nov) and Austria (18Nov):

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina(Liverpool) and Diego López (Villarreal).

Defenders: Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Andoni Iraola (Athletic), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona) and Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fábregas (Arsenal), Xavi Hernández (Barcelona) and Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona).

Forwards: Dani Güiza (Fenerbahce), Pablo Hernández (Valencia), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia), Jesús Navas (Sevilla), David Silva (Valencia), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) and David Villa (Valencia)