Sunday 4 September 2011

International Duty: How have our players done this weekend?

Well, I think it's quite apt to start with England, considering we had 6 players picked for the squad for the 2 matches this week. Joe Hart and Gareth Barry started for England last night in a side which beat Bulgaria 3-0. James Milner and Adam Johnson also made appearances from the bench.


Hart was a spectator for most of the match, but made a good reaction save in the second half, as well as misjudging a cross. Good performance on an unpredictable pitch.
Barry continued his impressive start to the season and even grabbed an assist for the first goal.
Milner and Johnson were both late substitutes and didn't really have enough time to show their worth. Milner did prove his versatility by slotting into a more central attacking midfield role though.





Argentina 1 - 0 Venezuela (Friendly)

Both Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta featured in Argentina's victory. Zabaleta started the game, and looked defensively sound, but arguably weak going forward, whilst Kun was a late substitute and had little time to add to his goal tally and make an impact.

Albania 1 - 2 France (European Championship Qualifier)


City's new signing Samir Nasri started for France in a win that put them a step closer the the Championship next summer. Even though he hit the post late on, his threat was limited considerably due to the Albanian midfield marking him tightly, and he often had to drop deep to get the ball.

Northern Ireland 0 - 1 Serbia (European Champs Qualifier)


Left back Aleks Kolarov started for Serbia and was one of the stars of the show, performing well both going forward and in defence. He is sure to fight for his place at club level and try and oust the spot away from Clichy.

Other Balkan players Stefan Savic and Edin Dzeko also started for their respective countries, with Montenegro losing to Wales 2-1 whilst Dzeko saw his country Bosnia win 2-0 away to Belarus, both qualifiers for the Euro Championships. Dzeko carried on with his good start to the season, winning a penalty for Bosnia and playing very well.

Elsewhere in Europe, Vincent Kompany was captaining Belgium in Azerbeijan but unfortunately a 1-1 draw meant that qualification for the tournament is looking unlikely for the Belgians.

Faroe Islands 0 - 1 Italy


Mario Balotelli came on as a late substitute and had little time to make an impact for the Italians who scraped a narrow win against the Faroe's.

Spain 3 - 2 Chile


The best of International action was to be seen in Geneva where Spain and Chile battled it out. Chile were 2-0 at half time but couldn't hold on as Spain grabbed three second half goals. David Silva played 80 minutes in the match and was his usual self.

Come back on Thursday where we round up the midweek International games!





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