Arsenal 28yo receives international call-up for play-offs | OneFootball

Oleksandr Zinchenko has been called up by Ukraine for their promotion play-off against Belgium later this month, despite his limited minutes with Arsenal.

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The Ukraine Association of Football have confirmed Ukraine’s squad for the upcoming March international break, with 25 players named on the main list and another six listed as reserves.

Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko is on the main list, so he’ll definitely be involved in the March internationals barring injury.

Though Zinchenko has played just 481 minutes of football this season, falling down in the pecking order behind the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly, the 28-year-old remains a key player for his country.

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Ukraine are set to take on Belgium in a two-legged tie, with the winner playing in League A of the next edition of the Nations League. The loser will play in League B.

For Ukraine, this is a chance to achieve promotion, having played in League B last time around. The team finished second to the Czech Republic, missing out on automatic promotion, which is why they’re now involved in the play-offs.

As for Belgium, they’re trying to avoid relegation after finishing third in their League A group behind France and Italy. It was somewhat of a group of death, but Belgium would still be disappointed to have won just one game from six.

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Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard and/or Albert Sambi Lokonga may be involved in the fixtures from Belgium’s side, but Belgium haven’t yet confirmed their call-ups.

Ukraine will play their ‘home’ leg first on March 20th, though due to the Russian invasion of the country, that game will be played in Spain. The away leg will be just three days later on March 23rd in Belgium.