International Watch: the who, what, when, where, and why

Though I'm never too enthusiastic about our players risking injury for their country, I will admit that it gives me something to look forward to over the break. With that said, let's take a look at which players got call-ups and if applicable, what the situation is with their country in advancing to the European Championships next summer or in one case, World Cup qualifying.

First, Pepe Reina got the usual call-up to his native Spain to be the back-up to Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas. I honestly think Pepe is better than Casillas, but it doesn't bother me that he doesn't get to play. Torres, despite probably being fit enough, was not called-on, and Xabi is still injured. I'm sort of surprised Alvaro Arbeloa isn't taken into consideration, but I'm not going to argue over his exclusion. The group of defenders they appeared to call is actually quite strong for once, recently they've had a few injured.

Spain has ties with group leader Sweden and Northern Ireland, the former at Santiago Bernabéu and the latter at Gran Canaria. A draw in either of those matches nearly assures their advancement to the final, a victory definitely does. How big was the fan incident with Herbert Fandel for Denmark? It pretty much cost the Danes any chance of advancing, of course, drawing nil-nil with Northern Ireland both times didn't help either.

Both Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt will be in Rotterdam come Saturday as the Netherlands need a victory over Luxembourg to continue to the next stage of the competition. Sounds like a simple enough task as the Red Lions have just recently recorded their first competitive win in twelve years. Hopefully one of the two will not have to play in the following mid-week fixture at Belarus, so they'll be fresh for the Newcastle tie.

Sami Hyypiä will take the pitch for Finland as they basically need to beat Azerbaijan in Helsinki on Saturday and then travel to the Estádio do Dragão to take on the Portuguese. If Portugal beat Armenia in Leiria on Saturday it might not matter anyhow, as Cristiano Ronaldo's side has a +8 goal difference over Finland as it stands now and that will probably increase after Saturday. Plus if Serbia beats Kazakhstan and Poland, whom they both play in home country stadiums, the Serbs will probably get the nod ahead of the Finns since they also have a superior goal differential. Hopefully, that'll mean Hyypiä will get the mid-week fixture in Portugal off and be fresh when he returns to Liverpool, though Agger might be fit anyhow.

Andriy Voronin was called-up for the Ukraine, even though they have already been eliminated. The Zhovto-Blakytni first travel to Lithuania and then have a chance to spoil France's qualifying hopes in Kiev. Hopefully Oleg Blokhin will be trying out his ponies and let the elder players rest.

John Arne Riise got the usual call from Norway as they look to secure a qualifying spot against Turkey in Oslo. A win and the Norwegians are in. If they draw then all they need is a similar result at Malta on the 21st. Hopefully they'll wrap it up on Saturday and not need the services of Riise after that.

Ireland called-up Steve Finnan, which actually might be beneficial to us in the end. The 31-year-old hasn't donned the Liverpool kit since the Blackburn match, so maybe a little action for his country will keep his fitness up as they travel to Cardiff to face Wales to finish off their failed qualifying campaign.

Then we have England. Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch are both set to take the pitch for the Three Lions on the 21st against Croatia. Of course, if Russia beat Israel, I don't see the point in risking Gerrard, as I doubt Andorra will be able to hold the Russians to even a draw. An Israel draw with Russia, will assure England a great chance of advancing since Croatia would have already qualified and the match will be held at Wembley. Oh yeah, they also have that all important friendly with Austria this Friday.

Speaking of Israel, they will be without the services of their captain, Yossi Benayoun, who was injured in the Fulham match. Also, Danny Agger was not called up for Denmark in case you were wondering.

As for non-Euro qualifying international matches, Harry Kewell will be with Australia when they take on Nigeria in a friendly at Wembley on Saturday. If recent history tells us anything, it's that Kewell will most likely come off the bench. Hopefully the history of him getting injured for the Socceroos won't rear it's ugly head though.

Finally, Javier Mascherano will probably start for both of Argentina's World Cup qualifiers, home against Bolivia on Saturday then at Colombia the following Tuesday. I'd be surprised to see him start against Newcastle on Saturday though, especially since Sissoko will be well-rested.