The latest international break has came at a time when almost every Sunderland fan would have wished it hadn’t with us flying in the league, the break can sometimes lead to a disruption of form or even a few injuries. Anyways, let’s see how our international lads got on…
TRAI HUME & DAN BALLARD (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Defenders Trai Hume and Daniel Ballard were in action for the "Green and White Army" in their Nations League games. Both players featured in both games, one was won and the other, lost. Trai won his 14th and 15th caps, and his first two as captain as he was rewarded with this accolade by Northern Ireland manager Martin O'Neill. The first game saw both Hume and Ballard feature from the start as NI defeated Luxembourg 2-0 at Windsor Park in Belfast with Ballard contributing with the second goal of the night and his fourth internationally.
Both were back in action for NI's second game which was away to Bulgaria in the city of Plovdiv. They would experience a 1-0 loss in that game when Northern Ireland keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell's pass towards Ballard, who made his 26th appearance, never reached the defender and Bulgaria capitalised on the mistake to score the only goal of the contest. Hume was booked nine minutes from time and then substituted two minutes later as NI chased an equaliser that never came.
CHRIS MEPHAM (WALES)
On-loan defender Chris Mepham linked up with Wales for their first games under new national team coach Craig Bellamy, after Rob Page's departure in late June. He didn't feature in the Red Dragons first game due to a carried over suspension meaning that Bellamy was forced to go with a central defensive partnership of Birmingham City's Ben Davies and Leeds United's Joe Rodon. However, Chris returned to the starting lineup with his 47th cap for Wales which saw them return from Montenegro with a 2-1 win. He played the entire game but picked up a 51st minute booking.
MILAN ALEKSIC (SERBIA)
New signing, Milan Aleksic, was named in the Serbia national side for the first time in this stint of games, having been capped at U18 and U19 levels before. He was selected on the bench for both matches against Spain and Denmark by national team manager Dragan Stojkovic, who made 84 appearances for the now defunct Yugoslavian national side between 1983 and 2001. However, our boy stayed on that bench for both fixtures but it will have given him some valuable experience of being involved in a national team setting and maybe by the time the next international break comes around he might be pushing for some minutes.
ALAN BROWNE (REPUBLIC OF IRELAND)
Another of this season's new acquisitions, midfielder Alan Browne was named in new Republic of Ireland Head Coach Heimir Hallgrímsson's squad for games against England and Greece in Dublin. Alan appeared as a 75th minute substitute in place of Southampton's Will Smallbone in the 2-0 loss to England. Alan started and played the entire game as the Republic suffered a second successive 2-0 defeat, this time to their Greek visitors.
JOBE BELLINGHAM & CHRIS RIGG (ENGLAND - YOUTH LEVELS)
Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg were in action for the Three Lions Under 20 and Under 19 squads, with Rigg playing three matches and Jobe two. The Under 20s, otherwise known as the England Elite squad, played against Turkey and Romania. Jobe played the entirety of game one against Turkey which ended in a 1-1 draw but was not involved in the Romanian game at all in which the U20’s came out on top with a 2-0 success. The boy genius, aka Rigg, played some point in all three games for the Under 19 squad. Game one was against Portugal which ended with a 2-2 draw and a penalty shootout draw, with Chris playing just the last 13 minutes and despite taking the armband, he suffered the pain of having his crucial penalty kick saved. which would have given the young Three Lions the win. He was captain again for game two against Switzerland and played the first 65 minutes in another draw; 1-1 this time; and a penalty shootout. The third game for Chris was against France, and he came off the bench to once more captain the side and played a role in the England goal that gained them another 1-1 draw but they won 2-0 in the subsequent shootout.
RHYS WALSH (NORTHERN IRELAND - YOUTH LEVELS)
Rhys Walsh was in the Northern Ireland Under 19 squad for their fixtures against Norway and Sweden respectively. He played the final seven minutes against Norway, a game that the youngsters lost 2-0, a scoreline repeated against Sweden where Rhys came on at halftime but was unable to muster any sort of comeback.
FINN GERAGUSIAN (ARMENIA - YOUTH LEVELS)
Academy product Finn Geragusian was in action for Armenia’s Under 19 squad against their Lithuanian counterparts in a double header. The 16-year-old forward played both games, playing the entire 90 minutes and scoring both of his nation’s goals in a 2-1 win in game one, and then featuring for the last half hour in game number two.
Comments