I hate international football.
But it’s at least a chance for some of Tottenham Hotspur’s players to play themselves back into form. It’s not like they’ll need to rest heading into Manchester City anyways; we all know they’re easybeats (yay, I’ve just cursed us). Plus, outside of a couple of Europa League matches, it’s the last time Rodrigo Bentancur will be stepping onto a football pitch for a while!
Speaking of Bentancur, as Spurs’ only remaining South American representative (with Cristian Romero returning to London for injury treatment and the birth of his child), he once more saw out the full match in a pulsating draw with Brazil as Uruguay cemented second spot on the CONMEBOL World Cup qualification table. Then, after hitting the half-century mark with a goal against Kuwait, Spurs and South Korea captain Son Heung-min continued his goalscoring form with another, this time in a draw with Palestine. He also continued his upward trend of minutes, playing 90 minutes for the first time since his recent return from injury.
Meanwhile, AFCON qualifiers continued, with Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr both involved for their countries. Bissouma captained Mali to a crushing 6-0 defeat of Eswatini, picking up yet another assist this campaign, while Sarr was rotated back into Senegal’s starting XI. He played most of their 2-0 win over Burundi, as Senegal comfortably sit in top spot in their AFCON qualifying group.
Returning to Europe, Guglielmo Vicario’s name was all over social media after Italy’s defeat to France, with an own goal to his name and a couple of set pieces conceded; but a large portion of that reaction was little more than rage bait, with well-struck dead balls the more likely culprit. Destiny Udogie also saw some time off the bench for Gli Azzurri. As one Tottenham player was rotated in in the form of Vicario, another was rotated out, as Pedro Porro thankfully got some well-deserved rest, remaining on the bench as Spain narrowly defeated Switzerland via a late winner.
Radu Dragusin was unusually subbed off early in Romania’s 4-1 win over Cyprus, with the removal perhaps due to his complicity in the Cypriots’ lone strike rather than any injury problem, his lack of form perhaps cause for concern; Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson, on the other hand, were more positively involved as Wales took down Iceland by the same margin. Johnson made a return to his goalscoring ways, bagging one for himself and assisting another.
Finally, Dejan Kulusevski continued his international form, albeit against a slightly weaker opponent. Sweden defeated Azerbaijan 6-0, with Kulusevski having a hand in three goals, scoring two of them. Lucas Bergvall got himself some more international minutes as well, coming off the bench to see the match out and continue his development in the international game.
That’s it for this round… and we now get a blessed break from international matches until the new year! And we have only had to sacrifice one player to the injury gods this window to pay for it.
I still hate international football.
Spurs International Appearances:
- Son Heung-min (64 mins, 1 goal; 90 mins, 1 goal): Kuwait 1-3 South Korea, Palestine 1-1 South Korea – AFC World Cup Qualification
- Cristian Romero (45 mins; out of squad injured): Paraguay 2-1 Argentina – CONMEBOL World Cup Qualification
- Rodrigo Bentancur (90 mins, yellow card; 90 mins, yellow card): Uruguay 3-2 Colombia, Brazil 1-1 Uruguay – CONMEBOL World Cup Qualification
- Yves Bissouma (90 mins, 1 assist, yellow card; 45 mins, 1 assist): Mozambique 0-1 Mali, Mali 6-0 Eswatini – AFCON Qualification
- Pape Matar Sarr (2 mins, sub; 87 mins): Burkina Faso 0-1 Senegal, Senegal 2-0 Burundi – AFCON Qualification
- Destiny Udogie (21 mins, sub; 7 mins, sub) & Guglielmo Vicario (unused sub; 90 mins): Belgium 0-1 Italy, Italy 1-3 France – UEFA Nations League
- Pedro Porro (90 mins; unused sub): Denmark 1-2 Spain, Spain 3-2 Switzerland – UEFA Nations League
- Radu Dragusin (90 mins, clean sheet; 68 mins): Romania 0-0 Kosovo, Romania 4-1 Cyprus – UEFA Nations League
- Ben Davies (90 mins, clean sheet; 90 mins) & Brennan Johnson (89 mins, yellow card; 89 mins, 1 goal, 1 assist, yellow card): Turkey 0-0 Wales, Wales 4-1 Iceland – UEFA Nations League
- Dejan Kulusevski (90 mins; 90 mins, 2 goals, 1 assist) & Lucas Bergvall (unused sub; 24 mins, sub): Sweden 2-1 Slovakia, Sweden 6-0 Azerbaijan – UEFA Nations League
- Dominic Solanke (unused sub; 15 mins, sub): Greece 0-3 England, England 5-0 Ireland – UEFA Nations League
