Despite a lack of club football this past week, many of Leicester City’s early season stars have continued their good form at International level, a sign of the club’s growing stature.
Suddenly it seems the Foxes have a wealth of International players within their ranks, with 14 required for national duties over the break. Jamie Vardy made the leap into the England squad, while Shinji Okazaki (Japan), Christian Fuchs (Austria), Andy King (Wales), Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark), Gokhan Inler (Switzerland), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), Jeffrey Schlupp (Ghana) and Andrej Kramaric (Croatia) were other notable players to wear their national colours.
Loanees Tom Lawrence (Wales) and Simonas Stankevicius (Lithuania) represented their respective sides, while youngsters Ben Chilwell, Brandon Fox and Elliott Moore were also called up for England at their respective age levels.
Many of the players also featured in integral roles for their countries. Inler captained the Swiss against England at Wembley and Fuchs led his country to their first ever qualification for a European Championship, aside from their appearance as hosts in 2008. Okazaki scored twice in Japan’s qualifier against Afghanistan, taking his international goals tally to 45, Schmeichel kept a clean sheet against Armenia and King played significant minutes for Wales, as they also near a spot in Euro 2016.
Vardy, although unused against Switzerland, featured in the Three Lions starting XI against San Marino. Wes Morgan, normally an integral part of Jamaica’s national side, was given a well-earned, although nearly costly, rest following his Gold Cup duties.
Most importantly for Leicester, however, is that all of their players return without injury, retaining their services for the upcoming fixtures.
Perhaps, when looking at the performances of the various Foxes this week, their first month of Premier League results should not have been such a surprise to many. They have performers in every area of the team, whether it is their goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders, or strikers. Having leaders such as Fuchs, Inler, Morgan and former international Robert Huth within their ranks will also leave the club in good stead, with the expectation from the club and the fans surely to grow.
After being placed into administration in 2002 and spending a decade away from the Premier League, the volume of players called up is a marked increase on those who have graced the East Midlands club in recent times.
Vardy, it must be noted, is only one of 17 Foxes players to play for England in their history. Coach, Steve Beaglehole declared it the best squad he had seen at Leicester in 15 years, and few would argue.
The squad now has depth, and one only needs to look at the players selected in a friendly with Stoke last Wednesday to see the current state of Leicester’s playing stocks. New signings Nathan Dyer, Yohan Benalouane and N’Golo Kante all featured, along with Leonardo Ulloa, Dean Hammond, Danny Simpson and Marcin Wasilewski.
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Merely seeing these players wear the club’s shirt should provide fans a sense of pride and enjoyment each week. Following on from their heroics at the end of last season, retaining their place in the top flight, the recruitment of quality international talent and currently being placed 3rd in the Premier League, the future seems bright at the King Power Stadium. Now is a fantastic time to be a Fox.
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