Another day of international football is behind us. All Manchester United players are now done with the play-off and friendly matches. We are yet to find out the final two teams to qualify for the World Cup. The matches will be played on Wednesday and Thursday. The two intercontinental play-offs will be played between Australia and Honduras, while a day later Peru will host New Zealand.
Denmark was the only team to qualify today. They became 30th team to do that, beating Republic of Ireland 5-1 in Dublin.
Manchester United Players On England Duty
England drew once again during this international break. It was another 0-0 draw, this time against Brazil. Marcus Rashford started the game for Gareth Southgate’s team, but went off in the second half for Tammy Abraham. Unfortunately, Jesse Lingard entered the game mid-first half due to Ruben Loftus-Cheek getting injured. The Crystal Palace midfielder on loan from Chelsea had a fine game against Germany, but this time around picked up an injury and did not have enough time shine again.
In his place was Manchester United midfielder, while Ashley Young entered the game in second half. He played on left back during the last ten minutes, replacing Ryan Bertrand. It was good seeing Young playing in that position. It means Southgate might actually be planning on making him part of 23-man squad in Russia.
The Europeans
Spain was part of quite a crazy game. David De Gea was in goal for the whole 90 minutes, but La Roja played 3-3 against Russia. The match played at the stunning Krasnodar Arena was very interesting. After just over half an hour, Spain were 2-0 up after Jordi Alba and Sergio Ramos Scored. However, Smolov scored twice in Russia’s fightback to end Spain’s winning streak in all competitions.
Romelu Lukaku played 74 minutes for Belgium against Japan, scoring the only goal of the match two minutes earlier. Nacer Chadli was the one that provided him with an assist. During that time, it was more interesting in Germany. France drew 2-2 against world champions. Anthony Martial played an important role in that match. The winger started the game and stayed on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes. However, more importantly, Martial created a stunning goal for Alexandre Lacazette, after dribbling past two German players in the middle of their penalty area.
Nemanja Matic did not play for Serbia in their 1-1 draw against South Korea, as he has not travelled with the squad on the Asian tour. Timothy Fosu-Mensah was on the bench for the Netherlands. The Dutch have won 3-0 away in Romania, but the Crystal Palace defender on loan from Manchester United did not enter the game. Former Man United player Memphis Depay scored the opener for Oranje.
What Happened To Argentina?
So what was this all about? Argentina were leading 2-0 against Nigeria 44 minutes into the match. Yet, somehow, they managed to concede four goals and lose 4-2 to the African side. On the bright side, Sergio Romero was not in goal in this heavy loss for Los Albicelestes.
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