Internationals return but who played?
It used to be an easy task to keep a check on which Burnley players represented their country during an international break, but with so many now being called up it is not quite so simple a task.
Our first team squad currently includes no fewer than 18 full internationals. For some of them, their international careers are over. Steven Defour announced his international retirement a few months ago and Stephen Ward, who won fifty caps for the Republic of Ireland, did so last week.
Ward was one of five Burnley players called up for Mick McCarthy’s provisional squad for their Euro 2020 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia. When he cut that down to a final squad only two were left with defenders Kevin Long and Jimmy Dunne dropping out along with Ward although Long was later restored.
Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady both featured in the two games. Hendrick played the full ninety minutes in each of the 1-0 wins, scoring Ireland’s goal in Gibraltar (pictured), while having one rather dubiously disallowed for offside in the Georgia win. Brady was used as a substitute in the first game but started the second and came off with around a quarter of an hour remaining.
Whilst remaining with Ireland, there was one other Burnley player who has featured in the last week. Goalkeeper George McMahon was in their under-19 squad which qualified for the finals of the Under-19 Euros with three wins out of three in their qualifying group. All three games were played in Krasnodar in Russia and they beat Romania, Azerbaijan and hosts Russia. McMahon, in his first season at Burnley and currently on loan at Ashton United, played in the third of those games and kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win.
There was no on pitch action, however, for either Tom Heaton or James Tarkowski. Both were named as substitutes in England’s big wins against the Czech Republic and Montenegro. Gareth Southgate preferred to play the two Everton players Jordan Pickford and former Claret Michael Keane.
One Burnley player did feature in the first of those two games with the Czechs bringing on Matěj Vydra as a substitute at half time. He had little chance to impress other than getting caught by Harry Maguire who he’d spoken about a few days earlier. He was again used as a substitute two days ago in a 3-1 friendly defeat against Brazil in Prague.
Jόhann Berg Guðmundsson was in the Iceland squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers against Andorra and France. He started the Andorra game, which they won 2-0, and played until the 83rd minute having succumbed to a foul that earned the Andorran a yellow card. Although some sources suggested he played in the 4-0 defeat in France, that was not the case, the Guðmundsson on view in that game was AZ Alkmaar winger Albert Guðmundsson. If there is an injury, I’m sure we can expect an update today from Sean Dyche.
Finally, Nahki Wells is enjoying his return to international football with Bermuda. He returned to international duty last November and scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win against El Salvador in a CONCACAF Nations League qualifier and this week netted the second in a 3-1 away win against the Dominican Republic. Bermuda now sit fifth in the 34 country league with three wins from their opening four games.
Follow UpTheClarets:Share this page :