I hate international football.
Seriously, how have we had three breaks before Christmas? And that’s with AFCON coming early next year. In some ways, it is nice for Tottenham Hotspur to have a bit of a break before what will be an intense North London Derby this weekend; but at the same time, it’s rough preparing for a match like that with a chunk of your squad injured, and another squad halfway around the world playing football a few days out. And what’s the deal with airline food? At least the majority of these matches weren’t completely pointless, with World Cup places on the line.
Thankfully, a number of Spurs’ internationals were rested in the second round of matches through the break. Pedro Porro wasn’t called upon as Spain drew 2-all with Turkey; Djed Spence finished off a quiet break with a bench role as England defeated Albania 2-0; Richarlison was left on the pine as Brazil and Tunisia finished one apiece; and a Ronaldo-less Portugal saw no need for Joao Palhinha either as they cruised past Armenia 9-1. Gennaro Gattuso may have regretted his decision to bench Guglielmo Vicario though following his clean sheet against Moldova, with Gianluigi Donnarumma having a bit of a shocker in goal as Italy went down 1-4 to Norway.
Micky van de Ven’s hamstrings also got a break, as he was rested in the Netherlands’ match against Lithuania, but Xavi Simons made the most of a rare start for the Dutch, scoring a well-taken goal as they secured a comfortable 4-0 win. Cristian Romero and Pape Matar Sarr were the other two internationals not to make an appearance: Sarr missing from the Senegal squad following the knock he picked up against Brazil (everybody PANIC!!!) while Cuti’s Argentina only had the one friendly match during the break due to an absolute shermozzle with sponsors leading to the postponement of their planned match against Australia.
Xavi Simons wasn’t the only Spurs representative to be amongst the goals: Brennan Johnson played a starring role as Wales demolished North Macedonia 7-1 in what was a must-win match for The Dragons’ World Cup aspirations. Johnson scored an absolute screamer cutting in from the left, after picking up an assist as he put the ball on a plate for David Brooks to finish. Rodrigo Bentancur also had a match of note for Uruguay against USA… but for all the wrong reasons. He was shown a straight red card for an ugly, studs-up challenge, cutting his match short as La Celeste slumped to a 1-5 loss. Lastly, Kevin Danso had a challenging match of his own: having to shoulder the burden of taking on two countries at once as Austria drew 1-1 against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Special mention to ex-Spur Troy Parrott who was once again the hero for Ireland, scoring a hat-trick to make it five goals over the international break. This old man yelling at clouds can at least feel some semblance of something when thinking about Party Parrott!
I still hate international football.
Spurs International Appearances:
Pedro Porro (45 mins, clean sheet; unused sub): Georgia 0-4 Spain; Spain 2-2 Turkey - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Djed Spence (unused sub x2): England 2-0 Serbia; Albania 0-2 England - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Richarlison (unused sub x2): Brazil 2-0 Senegal; Brazil 1-1 Tunisia - Friendlies
Joao Palhinha (unused sub x2): Ireland 2-0 Portugal; Portugal 9-1 Armenia - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Guglielmo Vicario (90 mins, clean sheet; unused sub): Moldova 0-2 Italy; Italy 1-4 Norway - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Micky van de Ven (90 mins; unused sub) & Xavi Simons (unused sub; 78 mins, goal): Poland 1-1 Netherlands; Netherlands 4-0 Lithuania - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Cristian Romero (90 mins, clean sheet): Angola 0-2 Argentina - Friendly
Pape Matar Sarr (49 mins; absent from squad): Brazil 2-0 Senegal; Kenya 0-8 Senegal - Friendlies
Brennan Johnson (7 mins, sub; 90 mins, goal, assist): Liechtenstein 0-1 Wales; Wales 7-1 North Macedonia - UEFA World Cup Qualification
Rodrigo Bentancur (90 mins; 64 mins, yellow card, red card): Mexico 0-0 Uruguay; USA 5-1 Uruguay - Friendlies
Kevin Danso (90 mins, assist, clean sheet; 90 mins): Cyprus 0-2 Austria; Austria 1-1 Bosnia & Herzegovina - UEFA World Cup Qualification