With the international break now nearing its end, we are taking a look at the players who’ve featured during it and how they've gotten on at both senior and junior international level as well as in friendlies and competitive games.
CHRIS RIGG
Rigg earned himself a call-up for England U17s and his noticeable potential was demonstrated by the midfielder captaining the side in their first game of the window, a 3-2 defeat to Portugal. The 16 year old was subbed off after 74 minutes but has since gotten another cap on his CV, coming off the bench just after the hour mark in a 1-1 draw with Morocco. There’s going to be another opportunity for Rigg to play as England U17s face Spain tomorrow evening at 5pm.
JOBE BELLINGHAM
Bellingham continued his development by earning his first call-up for England U19s, and it was quite an introduction for the 17 year old as he captained the side. The game was unfortunately a 1-0 defeat to Germany but Jobe played the whole of the 90 minutes, and given that the majority of the team were subbed off he must have put in a solid performance. Bellingham came on in the 65th minute in the second game, this time a 4-2 against Switzerland.
JEWISON BENNETTE
Bennette featured in the first of the two rather controversial Saudi Arabia friendlies at St James’ Park as Costa Rica ran out 3-1 winners, earning his 12th cap (an impressive total given his age of 19. He was subbed off in the 65th minute and then Saudi Arabia scored just three minutes later, come to whatever conclusion you wish to. Jewi can earn himself another cap, as he and the Central American side jet off to Croatia to face the UAE tomorrow at 5pm. Interestingly enough, in the build up to the game at St James’ the Costa Ricans trained at Mariners’ Park in South Shields.
TRAI HUME
Despite Northern Ireland’s continued bad run of form, it’s been a good break for Hume. The defender played two full games and was voted the man of the match for Northern Ireland in the latter game, a 1-0 defeat to Kazakhstan. The other game was a disastrous 4-2 defeat to Slovenia which effectively ended any hope of Northern Ireland making it to Germany in 2024.
DAN BALLARD
Owing to a knock that the centre-back sustained during our 5-0 obliteration of Southampton, Ballard missed out on the first game against Slovenia for the Green and White Army but he was able to play the full 90 minutes against Kazakhstan. He was booked in the 83rd minute during that game, but the most important thing is that his injury-scare isn’t anything serious and the defender should be available for our game against QPR on Saturday.
TREY OGUNSUYI
A player few had heard of before the club mentioned that he had been called up for Belgium U18s for their games against Norway and Sweden. This is a big moment for the 16 year old midfielder, who turns out for our U18 side, as it is his first time being in an international squad at any level. He hasn’t yet played, only being on the bench for their first game, a 2-1 defeat to Norway but they play Sweden tonight at 11pm so fingers crossed he gets some game time.
