Manchester United have been at the international duty for a while, helping their national sides get closer to the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. Somewhere those qualifiers have already been going on since the start of 2021, somewhere, like in Africa, they are yet to start their final round of matches. But nevertheless, everywhere is quite interesting and let’s see how Man United players fared during the previous four days of international football.
Portugal And The Mighty Cristiano Ronaldo
Well, we simply have to start from Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal’s hero and the new world record holder. Our latest addition to the team scored both goals in Portugal’s crucial 2-1 win against Republic of Ireland, creating an incredible turnaround. First, Ronaldo failed to materialise the penalty in the first half, before Ireland got their lead just before half-time. But then, at 89 minutes, Ronaldo rose to shine. He equalised with a minute before injury time and then scored in the sixth minute of it to add his second to make it 2-1. Those were his 110th and 111th goals for Portugal, meaning he is now the best ever goalscorer in the history of international football, surpassing Iran’s Ali Daei. However, a yellow card following his taking shirt off means he will not play for Portugal in their next qualifying game.
Bruno Fernandes also played, but he was substituted after 62 minutes when Joao Mario replaced him.
France Disappoint At Home
France were the big disappointment this week, as they drew 1-1 at home in Strasbourg against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Edin Dzeko scored the opener for the visitors, while Antoine Griezmann eqalised just few minutes later. Man United had three players play in this match. Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane were on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes, while Anthony Martial got the final 15 minutes to play instead of Karim Benzema.
Lindelof’s Sweden Defeats De Gea’s Spain
This was another meeting between Sweden and Spain, the teams which faced each other at the Euros, but also during the last qualifiers. This time, Sweden won 2-1, as Victor Lindelof led the hosts as captain for the entire 90 minutes. David de Gea was once again sitting on the bench, with Unai Simon the first goalkeeper for La Roja.
England’s Four Goals In Hungary
England had their issues in Budapest for the first 55 minutes, but afterwards, everything went perfectly for Gareth Southgate’s team. England won 4-0 away in Hungary, with goals through Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane, Declan Rice and our very own Harry Maguire. In fact, that third goal Maguire scored came after Luke Shaw assisted him with a great ball to convert on it. Apart from them playing the entire 90 minutes, Jesse Lingard came on after 84 minutes to replace Mason Mount.
France Disappoint On Saturday As Well
France already played two of their matches this week and they failed to win in the second one as well. After a 1-1 draw against Bosnia, they got the same result away in Ukraine. It was a great game for our Anthony Martial who scored the equaliser after 50 minutes of the game, with Mykola Shaparenko previosly opening the scoring. Martial played for 64 minutes, while Paul Pogba was on the pitch for the entire 90. Raphael Varane did not feature this time.
Portugal Win, Bruno Scores
Portugal had to play a friendly match against Qatar on Saturday and they won 3-1 without cristiano Ronaldo. However, they had Bruno Fernandes, who scored the final goal of the match from the penalty, with just few minutes before the full-time whistle. Fernandes came on in the 59th minute and had a good game.
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