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Aston Villa stars set for international tournament play

By Josh Tonti

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 01: Mile Jedinak of Australia and Saad Abdulameer of Iraq lead their teams out onto the field during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between the Australian Socceroos and Iraq at nib Stadium on September 1, 2016 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
PERTH, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 01: Mile Jedinak of Australia and Saad Abdulameer of Iraq lead their teams out onto the field during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between the Australian Socceroos and Iraq at nib Stadium on September 1, 2016 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images) /
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Let’s run through several many Aston Villa stars will be playing this summer. The claret and blues should be represented in a number of prestigious international tournaments.

Australia was drawn into Group B of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Captain Mile Jedinak is expected to once again have another busy summer for the Socceroos. Australia will battle Cameroon, Chile, and defending World Cup champs, Germany, for a spot in the semi-finals.

Hosts Russia, New Zealand, Portugal, and Mexico represent Group A.

Leandro Bacuna, who we covered here earlier today, will once again feature for the Curaçao National Team. This time, however, at the international tournament level. Curaçao is one of 12 nations to qualify for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. According to Wikipedia, this is the first time the island nation qualified for the Gold Cup since 1973!

They finished sixth that year, in case you were wondering.

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Perusing their roster, Curaçao have players playing at some storied football clubs: Villa, Southampton, Vitesse Arnhem, Heracles, Go Ahead Eagles, and Saarbrücken included. Bacuna will face Mexico, El Salvador, and Jamaica in the group stage.

Jack Grealish is awaiting confirmation on whether or not he will represent England’s under-21’s this summer. England was placed in Group A for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship alongside Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden.

Aidy Boothroyd will announce his final squad in 2-3 weeks’ time.

Furthermore, André Green and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy were told to stay home this summer by Steve Bruce. To heal small muscular injuries, neither will feature for England U-19 in a series of friendlies.

By late August, Africa will resume 3rd-round World Cup Qualifying. Jonathan Kodjia likely will not be healed in time for the Ivory Coast. But, there’s a chance Albert Adomah could feature for Ghana. He has not featured in 18 months for the Black Stars, but Adomah is coming off a solid season with Aston Villa.

Likewise, James Chester should feature for Wales in UEFA World Cup Qualifying. Neil Taylor would be included in this too, but he’s serving a two-match international suspension.

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