Thibaut Courtois has been excused from Chelsea’s two-match post-season tour of Thailand and Australia as he and his girlfriend, Marta Domínguez, await the birth of their first child.
The champions’ first-choice goalkeeper also missed the club’s player of the year awards on Tuesday but he will be available for Belgium’s 7 June friendly against France and the Euro 2016 qualifier against Wales on 12 June.
The 23-year-old is one of a number of high‑profile absentees for the friendlies, against Thailand All‑Stars and Sydney FC, with Cesc Fàbregas to undergo a minor operation on his nose, which was broken in a clash with Charlie Adam during the win against Stoke in April. Fàbregas will be available for Spain’s game against Costa Rica and the Euro 2016 qualifier in Belarus next month. Willian and Filipe Luís have also been excused participation in readiness for Brazil’s summer in the Copa América in Chile, while their compatriots Oscar and Ramires are injured.
Kurt Zouma is also undergoing rehabilitation on a knee injury while Didier Drogba, who is out of contract on 30 June, is not involved. Juan Cuadrado has been included in Colombia’s squad for the Copa América, but will have an injury that forced him from the field in Sunday’s final game against Sunderland assessed before his availability is determined. Regardless, he was not due to travel to Bangkok with José Mourinho’s squad, which departed on Wednesday afternoon.
Petr Cech is included, while Diego Costa, – who was omitted from Spain’s squad for their two fixtures because of lingering doubts over his fitness after hamstring trouble – also travelled as the Blues prepare to play in Bangkok tomorrow on Saturday before moving on to Australia where they will play Sydney in the ANZ Stadium on 2 June. The Spain manager, Vicente del Bosque, had retained doubts over Costa’s fitness as he has not played a full 90 minutes since 15 March. Del Bosque said: “We didn’t think he was in the best condition for a key game.”
