Raúl and Van Nistelrooy left out from their respective National Team.

Luis Aragonés has dropped Spain captain Raúl González from his squad for the upcoming UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying match against Sweden.

Vicente Rodríguez, Joaquín Sánchez and Mariano Pernía have also been excluded from the team as well as Raúl, who has been in the international set-up since 1996, during which time he has played 102 matches, scored 42 goals and never been dropped. His absence from the national side for the Sweden match on 7 October has come as a huge surprise in Spain, especially after the 29-year-old scored twice in Madrid’s UEFA Champions League match against FC Dynamo Kyiv in midweek.

But three Madrid players included in the Spain National side. They are - Casillas, Reyes, Sergio Ramos.

Ruud van Nistelrooy was again left out of the Dutch squad on Friday when coach Marco van Basten named his 22 players for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Albania.

The Real Madrid striker hit out at Van Basten earlier this week, saying he had been dropped from the post-World Cup squads for reasons other than footballing ones.

Van Basten said it was not the end of Van Nistelrooy's international career.

"Now it is up to him to prove we are wrong," Van Basten told a news conference on Friday. "We spoke about it in the past and he knows how we think about him and we have heard his opinion.

"This was his reaction and his choice. It was not neat and stylish but I also have been a player and understand that this is a reaction from a disappointed player.

"However, with his experience he should not have done it like this. Unluckily for Ruud there is more competition up front than in our midfield."

Van Nistelrooy was dropped after the World Cup together with Mark Van Bommel, although the latter makes his comeback after missing three matches.