International Jet Set 8.22

For a smallish team, Reading is surprisingly cosmopolitan, boasting representation from fifteen different countries on their roster. As such, when international friendly days roll around, the Royals keep pretty busy, much to Steve Coppell’s chagrin. Here’s a little roundup of what trouble they got into on midweek vacation.

- Nicky Shorey, England: Apparently when I’m able to actually watch a Reading player perform his international duty, it’s a bit of a curse. Shorey got the start at left back in his second cap due to an injured Ashley Cole, but most notably started off the sequence that led to Germany’s first goal (and perhaps Paul Robinson’s last game as #1 keeper) with a pretty lazy clearance that was plucked by Bernd Schneider from the sideline and sent back in on the fateful cross.

- Bobby Convey, United States: Another player cursed to be on my television, Convey looked totally out of form after being subbed on at halftime against Sweden. Taking over set piece duties after Landon Donovan came out of the game, he sent in some pretty poor balls until the last one almost scored off the head of Michael Bradley. He clearly needs some more playing time, which he’s not likely to get at Reading until Stephen Hunt runs full speed into a goalpost in a week or two. Also called into the US squad was Marcus Hahnemann, who continued his dominant reign at the far end of the US bench.

- Long/Hunt/Doyle, Ireland: The Irish Royals all got on the field against hapless Denmark, who apparently kept their fans in the stands this game, but still lost 0-4. Doyle & Hunt started, but came off at the half, Doyle being replaced by Shane Long, who went on to score two.

- Ingimarsson/Gunnarsson, Iceland: Apparently both played in Iceland’s friendly against Canada, but I can’t find much about the match other than its 1-1 scoreline, and can’t think of much to say other than some lazy cold-weather jokes.

- Andre Bikey, Cameroon/Emerse Fae, Ivory Coast: The African contingent saw some action, vs. Japan and Egypt, respectively. Not much to report here either, though it’s worth mentioning that, including Ibrahim Sonko from Senegal and Sam Sodje from Nigeria (if he doesn’t depart for Sheffield United), Reading has a quartet of African players, all in defense. Everyone has been making noise about how Chelsea will be handicapped during the African Cup of Nations in Jan/Feb, but Reading, unlike Chelsea, doesn’t have 7 world-class players at each position. Could be trouble.

Category: International Duty

Tags: Bobby Convey, International Duty, Nicky Shorey, Shane Long

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share