International Round up.
Ashley Williams: Wales.
In the first of two games Ashley Williams captained Wales to a 0-1 victory away at Georgia, with Tom Lawrence scoring the winner. The result left Wales in second place with a must win game against the Republic Of Ireland in Cardiff, with the winner being guaranteed place in the World Cup Play Offs. The must win match arrived and it was one to forget for Ashley as he again captained the side but gave the ball away on the edge of the Area leading to the only goal of the game being scored, by James McClean and in result knocking Wales out of the World Cup.
Republic Of Ireland: James McCarthy
James hasn’t featured all season and again didn’t feature in Ireland’s two wins this international break, including the superb victory in Cardiff.
Belgium: Kevin Mirallas
The already qualified Belgium faced Bosnia and Herzegovina and came out 4-3 victors, Kevin was an unused substitute.
Belgium then faced Cyprus and came out 4-0 winners, again Kevin was again and unused substitute.
Iceland: Gylfi Sigurdsson
A monumental week for Gylfi and Iceland as they qualified for their first ever World Cup Tournament. A remarkable achievement for a country with a smaller population that Coventry, and Gylfi had a huge part to play in it. Iceland firstly faced an away tie to Turkey, knowing a win would all but qualify them as group winners, Gylfi recorded an assist in a 0-3 win. Iceland then went into their second game, a home match against Kosovo, would qualify them.
Gylfi scored the goal that sent Iceland through, and then recorded an assist to complete the 2-0 scoreline, he also revived the Man Of The Match award, as the minnows defied the odds, and qualified.
England: Michael Keane and Jordan Pickford.
Michael was introduced as a late substitute in England’s 1-0 home victory against Slovakia, he was brought on with the scores level at 0-0, before Harry Kane’s 94th minute winner. Then, in England’s second 0-1 victory, this time away at Lithuania, Michael completed the full 90 minutes, in which was his first start for the national team, as an Everton player. Michael looked composed, and almost scored a half volley from the edge of the area.
Jordan, however, was an unused substitute in both games.
The first victory, meant England qualified as group winners, and will be at the World Cup in Russia.
England under 21’s: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Lookman, Jonjoe Kenny and Tom Davies.
Yet again there was a strong Everton contingent in the England Under-21 squad, with as many as four Blues players in the 23-man squad, as well as Kieran Dowell, who is currently on a season-long loan with Nottingham Forest. Jonejoe Kenny, Ademola Lookman, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dowell all started for the Young Lions as they beat Andorra 1-0 on Tuesday. However, it was Tom Davies who won it for side as he scored his first goal for the Under-21 side after 52 minutes.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Mo Besic
In two must wins for Bosnia, Mo started one and was an unused substitute in the other. He started in the 3-4 home defeat to Belgium, which all but ended Bosnia’s World Cup hopes, he was withdrew on the hour mark. He was then an unused substitute in Bosnia’s 1-2 victory in Estonia, however as Greece beat Gibraltar, this wasn’t enough for Bosnia, and their World Cup hopes where over.
Netherlands: Maarten Stekelenburg and Davy Klaassen.
After failing to qualify for Euro 16′ the same fate occurred here for the Dutch, as despite two wins, it wasn’t enough for the side to qualify for the World Cup, as they finished 3rd, behind France and Sweden.
The Netherlands firstly came out as 1-3 winners in Belarus, where Davy featured for the final seven minutes and Maarten was an unused substitute.
Netherlands then faced Sweden, where only a big, big win would qualify them for Russia. They eventually came out 2-0 winners, but this was nowhere near enough for the Oranje Army. Davy played the final 19 minutes here, as Maarten again was an unused substitute, as the week ended on disappointment for Netherlands.
Senegal: Idrissa Gueye
Gana played the full 90 as Senegal came out 0-2 victors in Cape Verde. Gana was also booked, as Senegal couldn’t qualify.
– Louis ( @LouisCrawford10 )
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