While Peter Crouch is struggling to pin down a starting role for Spurs, he did wonders for his chances of folding his telescopic legs into a seat bound for South Africa last night. His brace, together with a strike from City’s Shaun Wright-Phillips issued nice little reminders to their national and domestic bosses.
As for us Fantasy Managers, it’s unlikely either player will have registered in our thinking as we close in on another gameweek. Even so, last night’s international dates saw dozens of our key players in action – each of them walking the injury tightrope. Right now it seems that Bolton’s Stuart Holden and Chelsea’s Ricardo Carvalho are our only real concerns but we should be braced for niggles and knocks to emerge in the team news in the next 24 hours.
Read on for a comprehensive rundown of Wednesday night’s action, listing who was involved and the form on show…
We will start with two prize fantasy possessions. Liverpool’s Fernando Torres (a premium differential) and Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas (who already has one hand on this weekend’s Fantasy Premier League armband) were both thankfully preserved, limited to just 45 minutes in Spain’s impressive 2-0 win over France in Paris.
Arsene Wenger also saw Tomas Rosicky subbed just after the hour-mark as the Czech Republic handed Craig Levein a perfect start – Scotland winning 1-0 at Hampden. Alan Hutton and Darren Fletcher both started for Scotland. Fletcher was eventually replaced on 83 minutes. Wolves’ Christoph Berra also saw action as a second-half sub.
The Arsenal boss wasn’t quite so lucky when it came to Carlos Vela. He scored in Mexico’s win over New Zealand last night after appearing at half-time but reportedly limped off after his goal. Early reports suggest he’ll be sidelined for a number of weeks.
Chung-Yong Lee and Ji Song Park both completed the 90 minutes as South Korea enjoyed a fine 2-0 win over the Ivory Coast at Loftus Road. Didier Drogba, Arsenal’s Eboue and Portsmouth’s Dindane also started and completed the match.
Everton’s Johnny Heitinga, Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt and City’s Nigel De Jong were all in action for Holland as they ran out 2-1 winners over the US. De Jong was subbed on the hour-mark, while Kuyt scored Holland’s opener from the spot before being withdrawn on 81 minutes.
There were a host of Premier League players in the US lineup – Tim Howard, Jonathan Spector, Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Bolton’s Stuart Holden all started. Donovan came on on 76 minutes. Holden was replaced on 34 minutes with a leg fracture and it was confirmed today that he will be sidelined for six weeks. His absence could be significant as it could increase Matt Taylor’s opportunities after he was benched for the home win over Wolves at the weekend.
Nicklas Bendtner continued his scoring form with a goal in Denmark’s 2-1 defeat in Austria. Bendtner was eventually replaced on 61 minutes, hopefully keeping him fresh to feed on Burnley at the Emirates this weekend. Stoke’s Thomas Sorensen completed the match, as did Wigan’s Paul Scharner for the Austrians.
Tottenham’s Sebastian Bassong and Benoit Assou-Ekotto both started for Cameroon in their clash with Italy. The game ended 0-0 with Bassong replaced at half-time. Arsenal’s Alex Song also started – he was subbed on 58 minutes.
Spurs also had three players in the Croatian lineup. Verdan Corluka, Niko Kranjcar and Luka Modric all started in the 1-0 win over Belgium. Kranjcar cracked the winning goal and played out the full match along with Corluka. Modric meanwhile was replaced on 65 minutes. Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen and City’s Vincent Kompany started for the visitors. The latter was subbed on 71 minutes.
James Collins skippered Wales as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Sweden. Gareth Bale, Jack Collison and Simon Davies all started for the Welsh. All three were subbed in the second-half. Seb Larsson and Johan Elmander were in the Swedish lineup with the Bolton striker scoring the winning goal before being replaced on 58 minutes. Given that he is a striker in need of confidence, Owen Coyle could now be tempted to look to Elmander for a cure to his side’s goal drought, starting at Sunderland this weekend.
Everton’s Diniyar Bilyaletdinov started and scored for Russia in their friendly with Hungary. Bilyaletdinov completed the 90 while Arsenal’s Andrei Arshavin made an appearance as a sub at half-time. He’ll be in contention for Arsenal at home to Burnley this weekend then, although a bench role may be the most likely outcome. Roman Pavlyuchenko also made an appearance from the bench at half-time.
Yossi Benayoun led Israel to a 2-0 win in Romania. Benayoun fired the opening goal of the game, jinking past three defenders and finding the top corner. The Liverpool midfielder was later subbed on 70 minutes but Portsmouth’s Tal Ben Haim completed the match for Israel. Bolton’s Tamir Cohen was used as a sub at half-time.
Villa’s Stiliyan Petrov completed the 90 minutes for Bulgaria as they were defeated 2-0 in Poland. United’s Dimitar Berbatov started by was replaced at half-time, no doubt under instruction from Alex Ferguson with the weekend trip to Wolves in mind.
Chelsea’s Paulo Ferreira and United’s Nani both started for Portugal in the 2-0 win over China. Nani was replaced on 62 minutes keeping him in the frame to play some part at Molineux. Ricardo Carvalho was withdrawn from the squad for this game after complaining of a “tight hamstring”. He goes into the FA Cup Quarter-Final with Stoke as a doubt.
Finally, here’s a quick blast of some others involved, just to complete your round-up…
Morten Gamst Pedersen and Brede Hangeland both started for Norway in their 1-0 win in Slovakia. Hangeland was subbed on 74 minutes. West Ham’s Valon Beharami started for Switzerland in the 3-1 defeat to Uruguay. Behrami was later subbed on 74 minutes. Stoke’s Tuncay came on just after half-time as Turkey ran out 2-0 winners over Honduras. Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and Wolves’ Nenad Milijas both started in Serbia’s 3-0 win over Algeria. Both were subbed just after 60 minutes. Sotirios Kyrgiakos started for Greece in their 2-0 defeat to Senegal. Fulham’s Diomansy Kamara started in opposition and was replaced at half-time.
That’s it then. Breathe easy for now. The true impact of Wednesday’s internationals will only rear it’s Dowie-like head once we start fetching noises from around the Premier League grounds leading up to the weekend games. As always, we will start bringing you that as it breaks via the Tweets and Team News.