Chelsea FC players have traveled far and wide over the last ten days playing for their respective countries. Here’s a round up of how they got on.
Gary Cahill captained England to a memorable 3-2 victory over Germany in Berlin. The Three Lions came back from 2-0 down to stun the reigning world champions. Eric Dier’s injury-time winner secured the win with goals from Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy before that to lead England’s comeback. However Cahill was an unused sub in England’s 2-1 defeat to Holland at Wembley on Tuesday night. Marco Van Ginkel, who is on loan at PSV, came on for the last ten minutes in the same game.
More chelsea fc: Chelsea FC’s Top 20 Goals Of The Roman Abramovich Era
Thibaut Courtois was in action as Belgium took on Portugal, a game in which the hosts won 2-1 thanks to Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo. Former blue Romelu Lukaku was on target as well as FIFA’s number one ranked team lost their first game since last summer. The game was switched to Portugal due to the terrorist attacks that occurred in Brussels last week. A minute’s silence was observed before the game as a mark of respect to the people that lost their lives.
Cesc Fabregas, Cesar Azpilicueta and Pedro all featured over their two friendlies against Italy and Romania. Pedro started against Romania in their 0-0 draw in Cluj whilst Azpilicueta didn’t get on. In Udine, rolls were reversed as Azpilicueta started the game which also ended in a draw (1-1) with Pedro missing out. Fabregas featured in both games including captaining the side during the Italy clash.
More from The Pride of London
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wasteful
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking points
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
There were mixed results for our South American players in World Cup qualifying and an Olympic play-off. Willian played the whole game for Brazil whilst Oscar was an unused sub in their 2-2 draw away to Paraguay in which they were 2-0 down with 11 minutes to go. This result leaves Brazil in sixth place, four points behind leaders Uruguay and Ecuador. The top four teams qualify for the finals whilst the fifth placed team goes into a play off.
Juan Cuadrado, currently on loan at Juventus, played 85 minutes as his Colombia side secured a 3-1 win over Ecuador. Elsewhere, USA under-23s were left heartbroken as they missed out on a place at this summer’s Olympic games after losing their 2nd leg 2-1 against Colombia, going down 3-2 on aggregate. Matt Miazga started the game but was sent off late on as he was adjudged to deny a goalscoring opportunity.
Asmir Begovic played an hour for Bosnia as they recorded a 2-0 win over Switzerland whilst Branislav Ivanovic captained Serbia to a 1-0 victory away to Estonia with Nemanja Matic playing 64 minutes of the contest. Andreas Christensen followed up his first start for Denmark last week with another 90 minutes in a 1-0 defeat to Scotland at Hampden Park.
Bertrand Traore started for Burkina Faso in their 1-0 win over Uganda in a Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. Jonathan Pitroipa’s penalty was enough to move the Stallions up to 2nd in their group. They then travelled to their closest rivals Uganda and were held to a 0-0 draw which kept them second in the group.
Ghana were held to a 0-0 draw by Mozambique in a AFCON qualifying game. Baba Rahman started the game at left whilst Christian Atsu, who is on loan at Malaga, missed out with a toe injury. Ghana, now managed by former Blues boss Avram Grant, won their first three qualifying games but had to settle for a draw this time around.
More from World Football
- 3 Things Todd Boehly got right at Chelsea in 2022/23
- Tactics and Transfers: Chelsea philosophy change can create wins and profit
- Chelsea players’ national team performances by the numbers
- Tactics and Transfers: England are Chelsea without James and Chilwell
- Tuchel interested in return to management with high profile job
Meanwhile, Nigeria will not qualify for the competition in 2017 as they suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Egypt. John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses started for the Super Eagles who were defeated through a Mohamed Salah corner that was met by Ramadan Sobhi.
There was a trio of Chelsea players featuring for the England Under-21s. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Lewis Baker and John Swift all started in their 1-1 draw with Switzerland with Dominic Solanke coming on as a late substitute. The result was enough for them to secure their place at the top of their European Championship qualifying group.
The England Under 19s were also in action featuring Izzy Brown and Tammy Abraham as they drew 1-1 with Greece. Then the young Three Lions took on Spain in a top of the table clash. Abraham played the whole game with Brown playing all but the last 15 minutes as Aidy Boothroyd’s side claimed a vital 2-0 win. This victory meant that they now qualify for the European Under 19s Championships in Germany which takes place in July this year.
Kasey Palmer and Ola Aina were in action for the England Under-20s as they were defeated by Canada in a friendly in Doncaster. Palmer, who was introduced at half time, was on target for the second game in succession.
Next: Agent deals Chelsea blow with Paul Pogba asking price, ready for contract talks
Fortunately, the international break is over as the Premier League returns this weekend. Hopefully, you will now be up to speed with all the happenings over the last week.