September International Break: The Comprehensive Everton Recap

The first international break is over after an interminable two weeks or so, and the Everton players who traveled will get a fortunate extra day of rest with the Blues only in action on Sunday against AFC Bournemouth.

Luckily we had no injuries to report, which is always magnificent news after these breaks. Here’s a quick look back at how each player called-up for his country did.

England

Senior team - Euro 2020 Qualifying: 4-0 vs Bulgaria; 5-3 vs Kosovo

Jordan Pickford and Michael Keane were the two representatives for the Blues, with the defender making a horrendous mistake to give up an early goal but then making up for it by assisting on the equalizer in a somewhat-comic game.

Under-21s - UEFA Euro 2021 Qualifying: 3-2 at Turkey; 2-0 vs Kosovo

Tom Davies had a pair of excellent outings for the Young Lions, albeit in a holding midfielder role that he’s unfamiliar at.

Under-20s - Friendlies: 0-0 vs Netherlands; 1-0 at Switzerland

Lewis Gibson has looked good recently and played the full ninety minutes in the win over the Swiss, and was an unused substitute for the previous game against the Dutch.

Under-19s - Friendlies: 3-1 vs Greece; 0-1 at Germany

Anthony Gordon has been in sparkling form and had a good game against Greece, coming off after the Young Lions took a late 2-0 lead. The youngster was a late sub in the other game and was booked minutes after coming on in the 1-0 loss in Germany.

Under-17s - Syrenka Cup: 5-0 vs Finland; 4-2 vs Austria; 2-2 (3-1 SO) vs Poland

England won the Syrenka Cup, beating hosts Poland in a penalty shootout in the final of the tournament. Everton’s Lewis Dobbin and Tyler Onyango got some playing time in all three games but didn’t trouble the scorekeepers.

Republic of Ireland

Senior team - Euro 2020 Qualifying: 1-1 vs Switzerland; Friendly: 3-1 vs Bulgaria

Club captain Seamus Coleman also wore the armband for his nation, leading them to a comeback 1-1 draw against Switzerland and then was rested for the friendly win over Bulgaria.

Under-17s - Friendlies: 2-0 vs Russia; 1-2 vs Russia

The two teams faced each other twice in three days, with young goalkeeper Daniel Rose keeping the clean sheet in the first win and an unused substitute in the second game.

Brazil

Senior team - Friendlies: 2-2 vs Colombia; 0-1 vs Peru

Richarlison got major minutes in both games, but failed to find the back of the net in either, and was taken off in the rematch of the Copa America Final just before Peru netted the late winner. Against Colombia, Richarlison missed two tremendous chances to score, his left-footed shot sizzling just wide before Keylor Navas made a heroic 1-on-1 save on the other. He had another couple of good chances against Peru too, but saw one go wide and the other saved well.

Colombia

Senior team - Friendlies: 2-2 at Brazil; 0-0 vs Venezuela

Yerry Mina came up against teammate Richarlison in the previously-mentioned 2-2 draw against Brazil where he let 36-year-old Dani Alves (!) get behind him to set up Brazil’s equalizer. Mina didn’t feature in the friendly against Venezuela.

Iceland

Senior team - Euro 2020 Qualifying: 3-0 vs Moldova; 2-4 at Albania

Gylfi Sigurdsson played in the Andre Gomes role in a 4-4-2 formation for the romp over Moldova, before going behind the striker in a 4-4-1-1 in the loss at Albania. While Sigurdsson scored in the latter game and could have had a hattrick, his side appeared to miss his defensive work in the middle.

Turkey

Senior team - Euro 2020 Qualifying: 1-0 vs Andorra; 4-0 at Moldova

Cenk Tosun toiled with no luck in the 1-0 win against Andorra, before hitting the post then coming up big with a brace in the 4-0 thrashing of Moldova, including a spectacular first too.

Here, watch that spectacular Tosun goal again, at better resolution.

Nigeria

Senior team - Friendlies: 2-2 at Ukraine

Alex Iwobi played at the #10 position in a 4-2-3-1 formation for the Super Eagles, assisting on the opener before coming off after seventy minutes with his side leading 2-0.

France

Senior team - Euro 2020 Qualifying: 4-1 vs Albania; 3-0 vs Andorra

Lucas Digne came on as a late sub in the first game, before playing the full game against Andorra. He could have had a couple of assists in that game had Kingsley Coman not seen his shots go wide and hit the woodwork, respectively.

Wales

Under-19s - Friendlies: 3-3 (4-5 SO) vs Denmark; 2-2 vs Norway

Rhys Hughes played in both games, scoring in the first while Ryan Astley was a late sub in the second game of the friendly tournament.

Under-17s - Friendlies: at Bosnia & Herzegovina 0-2 and 0-1

Liam Higgins is the sole Everton representative here.

Scotland

Under-21s - UEFA Euro 2021 Qualifying: 2-0 at San Marino; 2-1 at Croatia

The young Scots got a pair of wins over the break, with out-on-loan Fraser Hornby leading the line in the second game.

Italy

Under-21s - UEFA Euro 2021 Qualifying: 4-0 vs Moldova; 5-0 vs Luxembourg

Plenty of talk about Moise Kean who has played well for Everton when he’s been on the pitch but is yet to score. For the Italy youth side he was his usual dynamic self, playing wide right in a 4-3-3 for about a half in each game. He scored from the spot in the second, picking himself up after he was fouled in the box to slot home neatly.

Netherlands

Under-20s - Friendlies: 0-0 at England; 1-2 vs Germany

Nathangelo Markelo played most of the first game in the middle of the park, before coming on as a substitute halfway through the second stanza in the late loss against Germany.

Norway

Under-19s - Friendlies: 0-0 vs Sweden; 2-2 vs Wales

Teenage midfielder Einar Iversen has already been promoted to David Unsworth’s Under-23, and grabbed a goal against Wales and his teammates Rhys Hughes and Ryan Astley.