I hate international football.
I especially hate when one of Tottenham Hotspur’s footballers picks up an injury while on international duty, and it’s not even while playing in a match! Seriously, that’s what happened with Lucas Bergvall. And people say the Spurs medical staff are bad. “Well, that could have happened in training at Hotspur Way,” I hear you say, to which I say, “Shut your mouth and leave me in my misery.” Harumph. Let me yell at clouds.
Bergvall’s Swedish teammate though has continued to collect headlines, with Dejan Kulusevski turning in a pearler of a performance against Estonia and collecting a quite superb assist for himself as the Swedes dispatched Estonia 3-0. Pedro Porro also continued his good form for Spain, with an assist of his own off a corner routine while keeping a clean sheet in an identical scoreline over Serbia.
Guglielmo Vicario finally got to make his competitive debut for Italy, starting for the Azzurri in his hometown of Italy. The Italians were too strong for Israel, defeating them 4-1, though the solitary Israeli goal was one perhaps all too familiar for Spurs fans with Vicario unable to claim an inswinging corner due to potential impediment from the opposition. Destiny Udogie also saw the pitch for the Italians, collecting another Spurs assist for the break.
It was more success elsewhere for most of the other international defenders from Tottenham, as Cristian Romero returned from suspension, keeping a clean sheet in Argentina’s win over Bolivia, while Radu Dragusin saw out a 2-1 win over Lithuania with Romania. Ben Davies also played the full 90 minutes, keeping a clean sheet for Wales in a one goal win over Montenegro, but the takeaway from that match for Spurs fans was the absence of Brennan Johnson from the Welsh squad. Johnson came off at half-time in Wales’ win over Iceland late last week after being seen hobbling in the first half, with manager Craig Bellamy saying the winger took a knock early in the match. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be fit enough for the match against West Ham on the weekend.
Micky van de Ven was the unlucky individual of Spurs’ defensive internationals, as Netherlands went down to Germany, with a new look Dutch defense sans Virgil van Dijk coming in for criticism from pundits. It wasn’t great news either for Pape Matar Sarr with Senegal, albeit for a different reason. He was instrumental in their win over Malawi, but was nearly murdered by a couple of players on the Malawi squad and oh my God please don’t tell me we have another player injured. Finally, Yves Bissouma concluded a busy international break with a goalless draw against Guinea-Bissau.
So some great performances, a few injuries, and a lot of minutes played and miles travelled. Well, at least we’re done with international breaks for checks notes wait, one month? What???
I still hate international football.
Spurs International Appearances:
- Destiny Udogie (20 mins, sub; 16 mins, sub, 1 assist) & Guglielmo Vicario (unused sub; 90 mins): Italy 2-2 Belgium, Italy 4-1 Israel – UEFA Nations League
- Dejan Kulusevski (90 mins; 90 mins, 1 assist) & Lucas Bergvall (unused sub; not in squad): Slovakia 2-2 Sweden, Estonia 0-3 Sweden – UEFA Nations League
- Ben Davies (90 mins; 90 mins, clean sheet) & Brennan Johnson (45 mins, 1 goal; not in squad): Iceland 2-2 Wales, Wales 1-0 Montenegro – UEFA Nations League
- Pedro Porro (90 mins, clean sheet; 90 mins, 1 assist, clean sheet): Spain 1-0 Denmark, Spain 3-0 Serbia – UEFA Nations League
- Micky van de Ven (90 mins x 2): Hungary 1-1 Netherlands, Germany 1-0 Netherlands – UEFA Nations League
- Radu Dragusin (90 mins, 1 goal, clean sheet; 90 mins): Cyprus 0-3 Romania, Lithuania 1-2 Romania – UEFA Nations League
- Dominic Solanke (18 mins, sub, 1 assist; unused sub): England 1-2 Greece; Finland 1-3 England – UEFA Nations League
- Yves Bissouma (89 mins, 90 mins): Mali 1-0 Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Bissau 0-0 Mali – AFCON Qualification
- Pape Matar Sarr (unused sub; 90 mins): Senegal 4-0 Malawi, Malawi 0-1 Senegal – AFCON Qualification
- Cristian Romero (suspended; 90 mins, clean sheet): Venezuela 1-1 Argentina, Argentina 6-0 Bolivia – WCQ CONMEBOL
