Wigan Athletic players on international duty 🌎 | Preview
It is that time of year again - the international break! Wigan Athletic have five players representing their countries, with a first team coach also being called up as an assistant.
League One football has been paused until September 14th, with the international break now upon us. As a result of the call-ups, our home tie against Stevenage FC this weekend has been postponed.
Five Wigan Athletic players have been called up to represent their nations, two of which are academy graduates, with a first-team coach also assisting his nation during the break.
Sam Tickle was called up to represent England U21s but had to withdraw due to a minor injury. He is back with Wigan Athletic now undergoing a medical assessment.
Let’s take a look at who will be going on international duty 👇🏼
Tom Huddlestone will be joining the England U21s camp, as an assistant to interim head coach, Ben Futcher.
The Latic’s first team coach will work alongside former Birmingham City, Swansea City, Nottingham Forest, and Sheffield Wednesday assistant manager (to name just a few roles), Paul Williams, and former Bolton Wanderers, Birmingham City, and Aston Villa academy goalkeeping coach, Sam Meek.
Huddlestone is one of five appointments to the England National Team coaching setup that have come from the FA and PFA’s England Elite Coach Programme (EECP).
'“The EECP was introduced by the FA and the PFA in 2017 to create opportunities for coaches from historically under-represented groups to work with the England national teams to gain international coaching experience at the highest levels of English football. The programme aims to build a bigger and more diverse coaching talent pipeline for the future.”
Source: www.englandfootball.com
Liverpool’s loanee left-back, Luke Chambers, has been called up to represent the England Elite Squad, formerly the Under 20s, in their U20 Elite League fixtures against Turkey and Romania.
Turkey vs England | Friday 6th September | 17:00 kickoff
England vs Romania | Tuesday 10th September | 19:00 kickoff
Chambers has represented England throughout their youth levels, and most notably was a part of the Under 19s squad that won the 2022 European U19 Championship. The left-back made 1 start and 3 appearances from the bench during their successful run.
His first Under 19s goal came in the 61st minute of a Euro U19s qualifier against Montenegro on September 21st 2022, the game after they won the championship in the summer.
Former England U20’s manager, Ian Foster, tried to call Chambers up to their 2023 U20 World Cup finals squad in Argentina. However, Chambers was on loan at Kilmarnock at the time and asked to not be included as he wanted to help the Scottish side avoid the drop from the Premiership. Their remaining relegation round games were played in the same week that the World Cup group stage began.
Kilmarnock succeded in their survival fight, as Chambers started in both of their final games and helped them to a 3-0 victory at Dundee United, and a 3-1 victory at home to Ross County. Some boy.
On October 6th 2023, England Elite Squad’s interim head coach, Joe Edwards, announced that Luke Chambers had been called up for their Elite League games against Romania and Portugal, and he has been a regular ever since.
Another academy graduate to represent their nation again is Republic of Ireland U21s midfielder, Baba Adeeko. They will be competing in two Euro U21 Group A qualifying games, against Turkey and Latvia.
Turkey v Ireland | Friday 6th September | 17:45 kickoff
Ireland v Latvia | Tuesday 10th September | 17:00 kickoff
Adeeko’s first Republic of Ireland call-up came in March 2022, as he was selected to participate in their UEFA U19 European Championship Elite Phase qualifiers, alongside former Academy teammate Timi Sobowale. He made just one appearance in a 4-0 victory over Armenia.
In September 2023, Adeeko was called up to Ireland's U21s squad for the first time as they prepared for their Euro U21 2025 Qualifiers against Turkey and San Marino. Baba started both games and helped Ireland to two victories.
Baba was an unused sub for Latvia (A) game in October ‘23, but he went on to start both games against Norway (A) and Italy (H). In March, Adeeko had to pull out of the qualifier call-up for San Marino (A) with a minor injury.
In June, Ireland faced Croatia (A) and England (H) in friendlies where Adeeko featured in both and helped his nation to a 3-2 victory over Croatia and a 2-2 draw against the Young Lions.
Ireland will be pushing to pick up maximum points during this break to keep the pressure on Italy at the top of the table. The leaders play San Marino and Norway during this break, with their final group game against Ireland on October 15th. That game could decide the group winner.
On loan Liverpool right-back, Calvin Ramsay, has been called up to represent Scotland U21s after previously featuring in three games at this level for his nation.
Scotland vs Spain | Friday 6th September | 19:00 kickoff
Malta vs Scotland | Tuesday 10th September | 17:30 kickoff
Ramsay was called up to represent Scotland first as an under-16 in 2018 and made his debut against England as a second-half substitute. Ramsay then went on to feature seven more times for Scotland's U16s before progressing up to their U17s for three games in October 2019.
In September 2021, Ramsay made his U21 debut in a 1-1 draw against Turkey. He went on to start both games against Turkey and Kazakhstan in March ‘22.
The Scot earned his first senior call-up in November 2022 for their away friendly against Turkey. Ramsay made his way off the bench at halftime to replace Ryan Fraser, and joined his Liverpool teammate and national captain, Andy Robertson, on the field.
Victory over Spain will see the Scots join them at the top of Group B, albeit likely with a lower goal difference, and their game against Malta should be a routine win. This could be a very promising international break for Scotland.
Wigan Athletic Academy star, Thelo Aasgaard, has been called up again to represent Norway U21s in their Euro U21 Group A qualifiers.
Latvia vs Norway | Thursday 5th September | 15:00 kickoff
Norway vs Italy | Tuesday 10th September | 17:30 kickoff
Aasgaard was born to a French mother and a Norwegian father. Due to being born in England, and one or more of his grandparents holding another nationality, Aasgaard had a choice of four countries to represent. He chose Norway.
The midfielder first represented Norway at Under 16 level and was one of eight Latics youth players to represent their countries in the 2018/19 season.
In the November 2021 international break, Aasgaard was called up to represent Norway U20s, however, a hamstring injury forced him to drop out. A year later, Aasgaard was called up again to face Germany and Belgium. He scored his first international goal 27 minutes into the game against Belgium, with a brilliant header from just inside the box.
Aasgaard continued his journey with Norway U20s for their March 2023 fixtures against Italy and Romania, before being called up to Norway U21s in October to face Austria. After coming off the bench at halftime, Aasgaard scored in the 85th minute before Lasse Nordås nicked a winner in stoppage time.
In March 2024, Aasgaard was again called up to play with Norway U21s in their friendlies against the Netherlands and San Marino. After playing 45 minutes against the Netherlands in a 2-1 victory, Aasgaard scored the fourth and final goal against San Marino to help Norway to third place in the Euro U21 Qualifiers Group A table.
Jan Peder Jalland has kept his faith in Aasgaard again, and the Norwegian will be looking to impress while helping Norway push for the top place in the group. At 22, Aasgaard will have to step up his level again in order to try and push for a call-up to the senior team in the coming years.
Latics most recent loan arrival, Dale Taylor, has been called up to represent Northern Ireland U21s for their upcoming Euro U21 Group F Qualifiers against England and Ukraine - both are tied at the top of the group on 18 points.
Northern Ireland vs England | Friday 6th September | 19:45 kickoff
Northern Ireland vs Ukraine | Tuesday 10th September | 19:45 kickoff
Taylor has represented Northern Ireland throughout their U16, U17, U19, and U21 levels, while also achieving 8 caps for their senior team.
The forward made his U21 debut in a 2-1 away victory over Scotland on June 2nd 2021 and has made eleven appearances so far at this level, scoring three goals.
Northern Ireland have had a disappointing Group F qualifying run so far, where they have lost 1-0 to both Luxembourg and Ukraine, 2-1 to Serbia, and 3-0 to England. Their wins came against Azerbaijan (1-0) and Serbia (2-1). The green and white army will be looking to get revenge against England and Ukraine before facing Azerbaijan and Luxembourg in the October break.
Up the Tics 🔵⚪️
🙌 Thank you for reading!
✍🏼 Charlie Keegan / Central Wigan
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