Premier League Hiatus

So after learning that the Premier League was on hiatus for the Euro 2012 Qualifiers, and then after being miserable about it for the weekend (I had no games to watch), I decided to bring an update of how some Chelsea players are faring in the Euro Qualifiers.

FRANCE:

Florent Malouda - The French international has played well these qualifiers, netting two goals and taking thirteen shots in seven games. He scored the insurance goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and put through the equalizer against Belarus in June that allowed France the draw.

ENGLAND:

Ashley Cole - Ashley Cole has established himself as arguably the best left-back in the world, and he's made no mistakes playing for England in the qualifiers, putting through two assists, one against Bulgaria and the other against Switzerland. 

John Terry - The Chelsea captain has played well for England, captaining the international squad to an unbeaten record in the qualifiers so far. 

Frank Lampard - Everyone knows that Frank Lampard is one of the best midfielders in the world. His free-kicks and spot-kicks are almost unmatched. He contributed in England's victory over Wales and a 2-2 draw with Switzerland with two well-taken penalties while playing in three games. 

PORTUGAL:

Raul Meireles - While we've yet to see him play in a Chelsea uniform, we can be assured of his talent. Raul Meireles has established himself as a starting midfielder for Portugal. In these qualifiers, he's scored two goals in six games.

SPAIN:

Juan Mata - Ever since Juan Mata has joined the Blues, we've seen him score twice: one for Chelsea, and another for Spain. Oh, and he's only played 23 minutes for each team so far. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty damn excited to see this guy play for Chelsea when EPL comes back. 

Fernando Torres - Good news: Torres' form has really improved from last season (cue applause and me jumping up and down), already netting two for Spain in two games, and landing nine shots between them. I noticed that during his Chelsea games he seemed to be a bigger part of the action than last year, and he impressed in the preseason as well. While he's still yet to score a goal for Chelsea, it's only been three games. I say, give him a bit of time, he'll get there eventually - especially now with Juan Mata sending in beautiful crosses from the left.

SERBIA:

Branislav Ivanovic - Ivanovic has landed himself a starting role in the Serbian lineup and has done well to keep his team very much alive in these qualifiers. Serbia is in third place with 11 points, but Slovenia, in second place also with 11 points have played one less game than Serbia. It's likely that Serbia will advance. 

BELGIUM:

Romelu Lukaku - Lukaku has played five games for Belgium in the group stage, and has earned himself a starting position in the Belgian lineup. He is yet to score, although he has one assist, and there is a chance that Belgium will advance to the next round. At the moment they sit in third place behind Germany (21 points) and Turkey (13 points), with 12 points.

Thibaut Courtois - While Courtois has yet to play in any games for Belgium, it's nice that he's received a call-up for the international team this year. It's testimony to his youth and talent that he was picked this year, and I'm sure that his abilities will be put to good use in years to come at the Belgian national team, as well as Chelsea when Petr Cech decides to retire. 

CZECH REPUBLIC:

Petr Cech - One of the main reasons why I decided to write this post was pretty much to inform people of Cech's recent form. After Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Stoke in the first game of the season, Cech suffered a knee injury in training and was forced to sit out the last two games against WBA and Norwich City. However, he claims that he might be able to return to playing for Chelsea very soon (possibly their next game against Sunderland), which would be lovely. His recent form for the Czech Republic proves his increase in fitness. Czech Republic's statistic of only five goals against in six games (and only three were actually scored on Cech, who has played in five out of their six games) is quite good. I think most Chelsea fans can will be excited that their star keeper is on his way back, hopefully in time for Chelsea's matchup against Manchester United on the 18th at Old Trafford. It's going to be possibly the toughest game all season, and Chelsea needs a fit Petr Cech in their starting eleven.

ISRAEL:

Yossi Benayoun - I know that Yossi's on loan to Arsenal at the moment, but it's possible that one day he might make his way back to Chelsea. If he does, then hopefully he'll play as significant a role for us as he is for Israel at the moment. Not only is he the captain of Israel, but he's played in five games so far and scored four goals, three of them being a hat-trick against Malta which single-handedly won them the game.

P.S. This has absolutely nothing to do with Chelsea whatsoever, but I'd like to make a preemptive prediction that Germany is going to win Euro 2012. They're the best team in the world, I don't care what the FIFA rankings say, their ranking system makes no sense to me anyways. I'm going to add another poll at the bottom of the page (exciting!). Who do you think will win Euro 2012?