I hate international football.
Somehow, we are already on to the third international break prior to Christmas, and we’ve seen fixture congestion already take a toll on the players – so let’s add more matches! Let’s also dwell on that awful loss against Ipswich Town for a couple of weeks, and let’s also take the opportunity to send away a few players who are struggling for fitness, just so they can reinjure themselves once more.
Sounds good to me!
One of the concerns going into the break was the fitness of captain Son Heung-min, also captain of the South Korean national team for whom he tends to play big minutes when available. Just coming off an injury, he started for the Taeguk Warriors, but in a slightly out-of-character situation played only 64 minutes and came through relatively unscathed while also scoring his 50th goal for his country in a 3-1 win.
Things didn’t look as positive for a fellow member of the Tottenham Hotspur leadership team, however, as Cristian Romero’s appearance in Argentina’s loss to Paraguay was cut short by an apparent recurrence of the toe injury he picked up against Aston Villa. In that case, toe ligament damage was the reported culprit, and it always felt like he rushed back a little quickly as he lined up against Ipswich. It remains to be seen the breadth of the damage incurred on international duty, but Cuti has since been released from the Argentina camp and is headed back to London. Elsewhere in South America, Rodrigo Bentancur went the distance in Uruguay’s 3-2 win over Colombia.
Fortunately, things were looking healthier across the Atlantic. In AFCON qualifiers, Yves Bissouma once more played in an attacking role across 90 minutes for Mali, gaining an assist and a yellow card for his troubles as they defeated Mozambique by a solitary goal, securing AFCON qualification; while Pape Matar Sarr largely spent his time on the pine before making a late substitute appearance as his Senegal side beat Burkina Faso by the same margin.
Up in Europe, it was the usual bench duty for Guglielmo Vicario with Italy, but 20-odd minutes for Destiny Udogie as he saw out a 1-0 win over Belgium. Pedro Porro was once more called up for Spain, and even though he must be suffering excessive amounts of exhaustion, went 90 as Spain secured a 2-1 victory against Denmark. Djed Spence can’t return from injury soon enough.
Radu Dragusin, as is his wont, marshalled the Romanian defense and kept a clean sheet, making a couple of heroic defensive interventions in the process in a goalless draw against Kosovo, while Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson saw the same result against Turkey. Both played 90 minutes (with Johnson only subbing off in added time), with Dejan Kulusevski also playing the full complement as Sweden took down Slovakia 2-1. His teammate, Lucas Bergvall, was relegated to bench duty and it was the same story for Dominic Solanke in England’s dominant 3-0 victory over Greece.
In terms of results, it was a largely successful round of matches for Tottenham’s internationals; but there are now some significant injury worries around Ange Postecoglou’s squad – and the fixtures are not going to let up. Here’s hoping every other travelling Tottenham Hotspur player can return to N17 fit and firing.
I still hate international football.
Spurs International Appearances:
- Son Heung-min (64 mins, 1 goal): Kuwait 1-3 South Korea – AFC World Cup Qualification
- Cristian Romero (45 mins): Paraguay 2-1 Argentina – CONMEBOL World Cup Qualification
- Rodrigo Bentancur (90 mins, yellow card): Uruguay 3-2 Colombia – CONMEBOL World Cup Qualification
- Yves Bissouma (90 mins, 1 assist, yellow card): Mozambique 0-1 Mali – AFCON Qualification
- Pape Matar Sarr (2 mins, sub): Burkina Faso 0-1 Senegal – AFCON Qualification
- Destiny Udogie (21 mins, sub) & Guglielmo Vicario (unused sub): Belgium 0-1 Italy – UEFA Nations League
- Pedro Porro (90 mins): Denmark 1-2 Spain – UEFA Nations League
- Radu Dragusin (90 mins, clean sheet): Romania 0-0 Kosovo – UEFA Nations League
- Ben Davies (90 mins, clean sheet) & Brennan Johnson (90 mins): Turkey 0-0 Wales – UEFA Nations League
- Dejan Kulusevski (90 mins) & Lucas Bergvall (unused sub): Sweden 2-1 Slovakia – UEFA Nations League
- Dominic Solanke (unused sub): Greece 0-3 England – UEFA Nations League
