I hate international football.
But given the injury (and form) situation at Spurs, a couple of weeks off for a chunk of the squad is a welcome respite; and there’s no way our internationals could pick up injuries, right? RIGHT? Of course, when it comes to Tottenham Hotspur, nobody is safe - expect news any day now that Antonin Kinsky has somehow had an arm amputated while training with Czechia; even though he’s not in their squad. It would just make sense for something like that to happen to Spurs.
For some of those called up for their countries, however, the minutes continued to pile up. Spurs’ center back cadre all saw 90 minutes for their nations - a slight concern given the injury history of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in particular - with Cuti and Kevin Danso both on the winning side of 2-0 scorelines. Van de Ven wasn’t quite as lucky, held to a 1-1 draw as Netherlands held on to top spot of their World Cup qualifying group, with Xavi Simons thankfully remaining seated on the pine.
Guglielmo Vicario also saw a rare start for Italy, keeping a clean sheet in a two-goal victory over Moldova, with Rodrigo Bentancur rounding out those from Spurs who went the distance. Lolo’s Uruguay battled their way to a goalless stalemate with Mexico.
It was somewhat a case of feast or famine though when it came to Spurs’ internationals. Though the above added significantly to their already heavy workload, minutes were in short supply for others - though not necessarily by choice. Pedro Porro played just one half in Spain’s 4-0 win over Georgia in what seemed like (thankfully) planned minutes management, but injury scares for a couple of others were the culprit for reduced playing time. As Dustin wrote a couple of days ago, Lucas Bergvall never managed to even make the pitch for Sweden, sent back to London while still suffering the aftereffects of the concussion he sustained against Chelsea; and Pape Matar Sarr limped from the pitch after 49 minutes in Senegal’s 0-2 loss to Brazil with an apparent knock.
To round things out, Brennan Johnson made a brief seven-minute cameo as Wales kept their World Cup hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Liechtenstein, while all of Djed Spence, Joao Palhinha, and Richarlison failed to see the pitch, with the latter in the opposing dugout to Sarr’s Senegal. England were none the worse for Spence’s absence, cruising to a 2-0 victory against Serbia, but Portugal could have perhaps used Palhinha’s defensive nous as they suffered an embarrassing 2-0 loss to Ireland with Cristiano Ronaldo the recipient of a red card and Spurs alum Troy Parrott the recipient of a brace.
I still hate international football.
Spurs International Appearances:
Cristian Romero (90 mins, clean sheet): Angola 0-2 Argentina - Friendly
Kevin Danso (90 mins, assist, clean sheet): Cyprus 0-2 Austria - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Micky van de Ven (90 mins) & Xavi Simons (unused sub): Poland 1-1 Netherlands - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Guglielmo Vicario (clean sheet): Moldova 0-2 Italy - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Rodrigo Bentancur (90 mins): Mexico 0-0 Uruguay - Friendly
Pedro Porro (45 mins, clean sheet): Georgia 0-4 Spain - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Pape Matar Sarr (49 mins): Brazil 2-0 Senegal - Friendly
Richarlison (unused sub): Brazil 2-0 Senegal - Friendly
Brennan Johnson (7 mins, sub): Liechtenstein 0-1 Wales - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Djed Spence (unused sub): England 2-0 Serbia - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Joao Palhinha (unused sub): Ireland 2-0 Portugal - UEFA World Cup Qualification