the U-21 call-ups for the Netherlands & Poland

Ok, now this pairing on the plane to South Africa for the World Cup makes much more sense, no?

Both Javi Martínez and Juan Mata are on Spain’s U-21 team coach Luis Milla’s list for the upcoming 2011 Euro qualifiers against the Netherlands and Poland, on Sept. 2 and Sept. 7, respectively.  Also a stake is a place at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Their presence was not a surprise, since Vicente del Bosque had said earlier on Thursday when he revealed his list that these two players were not included because they would be called up by Milla.  I’ve praised Javi a lot for his move backwards, and now I have to do the same for Juan!  What great guys we have, no?

The U-21 team will meet up on Aug. 30 to travel to Valencia, where they will play their first match in Alcoy.

The full list of called-up players:

Goalkeepers: De Gea, Mejías, Mariño

Defenders: San José, Domínguez, Víctor Ruiz, Azpilicueta, Botía, Canella

Midfielders: Javi Martínez, Thiago, Rubén Pérez, Parejo, Canales, Capel, Mata, Ander Herrera

Forwards: Jeffren, Bojan, Adrián, Nsue