Man United Players On September International Duty, Part 4 - Stretty Rant (original) (raw)
While we are waiting for the Manchester United matches to return after a fortnight and while we anticipate the Red Devils’ upcoming trip to Southampton, the international break is slowly getting closer to its end, at least for this month. Before the players start coming back to their respective clubs, here are some of the matches you should know about, including Man United players. There were some positives, but also some clear negatives in performances of our players.
Turkey v Iceland
As was the case for the previous Turkey matches, Mert Gunok was the starting goalkeeper, meaning Altay Bayindir remained on the bench as the hosts defeated Iceland 3-1.
Lesotho v Morocco
Morocco won their second qualifying match for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, beating Lesotho 1-0 via late Brahim Diaz goal. Man United’s Noussair Mazraoui this time did not feature, as the captain Achraf Hakimi played full 90 minutes at right-back.
Netherlands v Germany
The first match against Bosnia did not go well for Matthijs de Ligt and that was the case once again, this time in a 2-2 draw against Germany. This time, De Ligt was once more guilty of a goal the opposition scored, but unlike against in the 5-2 win against Bosnia, the Netherlands failed to win the match thanks to his blunder. De Ligt was so poor head coach Ronald Koeman substituted him at half-time, bringing on Jan Paul van Hecke to play alongside Virgil van Dijk. On the other hand, Joshua Zirkzee remained on the bench through the match, despite the goal scored and the assist he completed against Bosnia. Koeman had more faith in Brian Brobbey this time around.
England v Finland
Like they did against Republic of Ireland, England won their second match 2-0 in the Nations League, this time at home against Finland. But unlike in the first match, new head coach Lee Carsley decided to change things around. This is why Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo remained on the bench for the entire 90 minutes, after starting in the previous game. This did not hurt England, as Harry Kane scored a brace to win the match, and Erik Ten Hag will definitely be happy that two of his players got a little bit of a rest ahead of their return back to Manchester. England, on the other hand, won all six points, did not concede and will wait their match against Greece in October equal on points as the group leaders.
Colombia v Argentina
A big surprise occurred in the South American World Cup qualifiers, as world champions Argentina lost their first match of the campaign. Colombia defeated Lionel Scaloni’s side 2-1, but in this match, only one Man United player featured for the visitors. It was Lisandro Martinez who uncharacteristically started as the left-back, with Cristian Romero being in central defence with Nicolas Otamendi. Martinez did not particularly shine and was substituted after 64 minutes, when Marcos Acuna came on. This did not help the Albiceleste who despite this loss remain top of the standings after eight matches, with two points more than Colombia and three more than Uruguay. Alejandro Garnacho this time did not get his chance, as he remained on the bench throughout.