SIX ACADEMY PLAYERS ALSO CALLED UP FOR INTERNATIONAL DUTY

It’s also a week of international call-ups for Sevilla FC’s academy, which, despite not pausing its competitions this coming matchday, will see several of its players leave to represent their respective national teams. Academy graduates now regularly involved with the first team, Kike Salas and Juanlu, will play two friendlies with Spain’s Under-21 side. The same goes for Stanis Idumbo, who will travel to Valencia to join Belgium’s Under-21 team.

As for those who regularly compete with Sevilla FC’s youth teams, Sevilla Atlético will lose key players such as Leandro Antonetti, who will travel to Puerto Rico to play in a pair of friendlies before resuming 2026 World Cup qualification in June. The Caribbean side will face the Dominican Republic—first at home in Bayamón in the early hours of Saturday, and then four days later, on the night of Tuesday the 25th, they will play the return leg in Santiago de los Caballeros. Center-back Robert Jalade, who has started in the last two matches at the heart of the defense, will also miss this Sunday’s game against CF Fuenlabrada, having been called up by Romania for two new Under-20 Elite League matches. The defender will face Poland away this Friday in Nieciecza, before hosting Turkey on Tuesday the 25th in Targoviste.

The big news in this international window is the call-up of Bakary Sow, a player from the División de Honor Juvenil who has featured in four matches for the first reserve team this season. The winger has been called up by Senegal’s Under-20 side, which will defend its title next month at the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. As preparation, the Senegalese team will hold a training camp in their home country and play a double friendly against DR Congo this week, both on Thursday and Sunday. It’s also worth noting the call-ups of the three Under-17 internationals with Spain, Tomás Méndez, Alexis Ciria, and Nico Guillén, who will compete in Almendralejo and Mérida for qualification to next summer’s European Championship in Albania.

Photo: Puerto Rican Football Federation