I hate international football.
Seriously, this is the SECOND break so far this season. And it’s only October! Thankfully, we have multiple more plus AFCON to look forward to this season. Hurray!
What is nice though is when members of the Tottenham Hotspur squad get called up to represent their country and step onto the pitch in national colors for the first time. In that respect, the break began successfully for a couple of Spurs’ international players: Djed Spence and Lucas Bergvall made their first starts
for England and Sweden, respectively. There was on field success for Djed as well, keeping a clean sheet in a 3-0 win over club teammates Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson’s Wales. Djed Spence, as is his wont, took to social media to gloat in a post that is… well, you should just see it for yourself (scroll to the last pic) if you haven’t already.
Unfortunately, that success was not replicated for Lucas Bergvall, as he missed an open goal in a two-goal defeat to Switzerland. That was, however, the sole loss amongst Spurs’ international cadre. Kevin Danso starred in an especially one-sided affair, collecting an assist in a 10-0 win over San Marino, while Pedro Porro also kept a clean sheet in a strong performance for Spain as they took down Georgia 2-0. Continuing the theme of minnows vs. giants, Netherlands breezed past Malta 4-0, with Micky van de Ven playing the majority and Xavi Simons making a late appearance off the bench.
In fact, it was the bench to which several of Spurs’ representatives were kept, with Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, and Joao Palhinha not playing a minute, an outcome that was likely pleasing to Thomas Frank. Richarlison was also a substitute for Brazil in their five-goal demolition of ex-Spurs captain Son Heung-min’s South Korea, with Richy only seeing the pitch in the dying minutes with the match already won.
The remaining representatives though saw big minutes for their nations. Cristian Romero played 90 minutes and kept an important clean sheet as Argentina defeated Venezuela by a solitary goal, while Pape Matar Sarr and Mohammed Kudus both found themselves on the winning side via the same impressive margin: 5-0. Kudus collected an assist in an 82-minute performance against Central African Republic, while Pape Matar Sarr went the distance as Senegal dispatched South Sudan.
All in all, a pretty successful break thus far for Spurs (as I touch a wooden surface, cross myself, and throw salt over my shoulder) – and that’s without even talking about the age-grade reps (which I don’t usually include, as ain’t nobody got time for that), where Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert both scored for France U21’s, a moment for Tel which I’m sure we all hope will be a confidence booster as he looks to build on his appearance against Leeds before the break.
I still hate international football.
Spurs International Appearances:
- Djed Spence (90 mins, yellow card): England 3-0 Wales – Friendly
- Ben Davies (64 mins) & Brennan Johnson (76 mins): England 3-0 Wales – Friendly
- Lucas Bergvall (85 mins): Sweden 0-2 Switzerland – UEFA World Cup Qualification
- Kevin Danso (90 mins, assist, clean sheet): Austria 10-0 San Marino – UEFA World Cup Qualification
- Pedro Porro (75 mins, clean sheet, yellow card): Spain 2-0 Georgia – UEFA World Cup Qualification
- Micky van de Ven (84 mins, clean sheet) & Xavi Simons (6 mins, sub): Malta 0-4 Netherlands – UEFA World Cup Qualification
- Guglielmo Vicario (unused sub) & Destiny Udogie (unused sub): Estonia 1-3 Italy – UEFA World Cup Qualification
- Joao Palhinha (unused sub): Portugal 1-0 Ireland – UEFA World Cup Qualification
- Richarlison (11 mins, sub): South Korea 0-5 Brazil – Friendly
- Cristian Romero (90 mins, clean sheet): Argentina 1-0 Venezuela – Friendly
- Pape Matar Sarr (90 mins): South Sudan 0-5 Senegal – CAF World Cup Qualification
- Mohammed Kudus (82 mins, assist): Central African Republic 0-5 Ghana – CAF World Cup Qualification
