Ups and downs for international players

The international action for our players well and truly kicked into gear on Friday night and into this morning (Saturday).

Kicking-off in the early hours in the States, centre-back Davinson Sanchez was part of the Colombia side that came back from a goal down to secure a late 2-1 victory over Venezuela in Florida, while on-loan defender Cameron Carter-Vickers was on the bench as USA went down 2-0 to Brazil in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Friday evening saw Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembele start for Belgium as they beat Scotland 4-0 at Hampden Park. Mousa was withdrawn five minutes from time while Toby Alderweireld was an unused substitute.

Earlier on Friday, Heung-Min Son had an eventful match for South Korea at home to Costa Rica. Fresh from his Asian Games triumph last week, Sonny captained his nation but missed a 35th-minute penalty, his effort coming back off the post before team-mate Lee Jae-Sung tucked the ball home. Sonny then supplied the assist for Nam Tae-Hee to complete a 2-0 victory.

Thursday’s action was capped by a 4-1 victory for Wales over Republic of Ireland as they got their new UEFA Nations League campaign off to a flying start in Cardiff. Ben Davies supplied the assist for Wales’ second goal, scored by ex-Spur Gareth Bale, before being substituted in the 81st minute.

Elsewhere that day, on-loan Josh Onomah played 65 minutes for England Under-21s in their goalless draw with the Netherlands at Carrow Road, Norwich, in European Under-21 Championship qualifying, while Under-18s attacking midfielder Phoenix Patterson made his first appearance for Scotland with a 74th-minute substitute showing for their Under-19s in a 3-1 victory over Poland.

Centre-back Japhet Tanganga helped to keep a clean sheet over the 90 minutes as England Under-20s beat Switzerland 2-0 at St George’s Park while Maxi Tainio from our Under-18s was on the bench for Finland Under-19s in their 1-0 home win over Greece.

On Wednesday, TJ Eyoma started at the back for England Under-19s in their 4-1 friendly win against the Netherlands at St George’s Park.

England’s senior national team begin their UEFA Nations League campaign against Spain at Wembley tonight. Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier are in the squad.