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It may not be a busy summer for most of Liverpool's senior players, but for nearly a month and a half there will still be football to keep an eye on for those tracking Liverpool's players off on international duty with a trio of tournaments. The first of those will be the U21 European Championships, where news today came of another Liverpool player's involvement when Fabio Borini was named to Italy's final squad.
Initially it appeared Liverpool's only involvement in the tournament would come by way of an England side heavy on Anfield talent, with Jordan Henderson captaining a squad that includes Jonjo Shelvey, Andre Wisdom, and Jack Robinson. With Borini now joining proceedings, it makes England's first game of the competition—on June fifth against Italy—even more intriguing.
Italy and England will be favourites in a Group A that also includes Israel and Norway. The tough Group B, meanwhile, has Spain, Germany, Russia, and the Netherlands. With the extended qualification tournament whittling down the finals to just eight nations, it makes for a short three-match round-robin followed by semi-finals and a final, with both Italy and England favoured to make it at least to the semis.
The U21 Euros will run from June 5th to June 18th, slightly overlapping the start of the Confederations Cup where Luis Suarez and Sebastian Coates will represent Uruguay and Pepe Reina will travel with Spain. The Confederations Cup is scheduled to run from the 15th of June until the 30th.
Elsewhere, with the U20 World Cup slated to start towards the end of June, England manager Peter Taylor has narrowed down his provisional squad to the final 21 man group he will take to Turkey. Both Jon Flanagan and Conor Coady have made the final cut, giving Liverpool fans another tournament to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
At the U20 World Cup, Flanagan, Coady, and England will face off against Chile, Egypt, and Iraq in Group E, with their first match against Iraq on July 23rd. The tournament itself kicks off two days earlier on the 21st. Twenty-four nations will compete for the top prize and the competition will run for three weeks, ending on July 13th.
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