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Called Up...
Jake Clarke-Salter and Ovie Ejaria have been called up by England U21s for their upcoming games with Romania and Ukraine later this month. Aidy Boothroyd’s side head first to Molineux on the 24th of March and then face the Ukranians at Bramall Lane just four days later.
Bryan Oviedo is expected to make the Costa Rica squad for a game against Scotland as his side prepare for the World Cup. Although, the 28-year-old defender's starting position isn't guaranteed with manager Óscar Ramírez preferring New York City FC left wing back Rónald Matarrita in recent games.
Interestingly, Paddy McNair has been called up for Northern Ireland's friendly with South Korea, despite recovering from an injury which has kept the 22-year-old on the sidelines for Chris Coleman's side in recent weeks.
Could the versatile midfielder feature against Preston at the Stadium of Light on Saturday in some capacity? His international call up certainly suggests so.
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Lamine Kone is expected to return to the Ivory Coast squad to face Togo and Moldova despite failing to convince in a Sunderland shirt against QPR and Aston Villa recently.
One of the only bright sparks in a turgid season, 18-year-old Joel Asoro, has been selected to represent his native Sweden in two U21 European Championship qualifiers with Turkey and Cyprus. The Stockholm born forward has appeared for Sweden's U17 and U21 sides a combined 30 times, finding the net on 15 occasions.
Elliot Embleton has been named in the England U19 squad by head coach Keith Downing. Embleton, 18, was born in Durham but is actually a Manchester United fan and idolised Wayne Rooney growing up. However, as a central midfielder he’s revealed in the past that he models his game more on Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas.
Missing Out...
Midfielder Jonny Williams will miss Ryan Giggs' first games as Wales manager after suffering another injury which will likely keep him out for a month or more - a familiar story.
There's no doubting the 24-year-old's potential - he's adored by fans of the Welsh national team, but Williams has only made twelve appearances since signing in the on loan from Crystal Palace in the summer.
The USMNT are expected to select an experimental squad of players based in Europe, however, attacking midfielder Lynden Gooch hasn’t featured much in Sunderland's first team and is expected to miss out on the friendly with Paraguay.
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Wales' Adam Matthews hasn’t been selected for his home nation since appearing in a friendly against Northern Ireland in March 2016 and also isn't expected to make Giggs first squad.
John O’Shea and Aidan McGeady were both left out of the Republic of Ireland squad by managerial duo Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane ahead of a friendly with Turkey next week.
The pair were in the last squad for the World Cup play-off humping against Denmark but have been dropped, presumably due to lacklustre performances on Wearside - and the news may come as a surprise for O'Shea, who is currently the Republic's vice captain.
Neither Michael Woud and Sam Brotherton are expected to be called for a game with Canada having been left out of the last squad, although New Zealand have have a new manager in Swiss coach Fritz Schmid.