A NUMBER of Rangers players were away on international duty this week and we’ve pulled together this helpful guide to review how they fared for their countries.
John Souttar and Connor Barron – Scotland
Scotland 2-3 Poland – Thursday, September 5 – UEFA Nations League
Portugal 2-1 Scotland – Sunday, September 8 – UEFA Nations League
Connor and John were called into the Scotland side for their UEFA Nations League clashes against Poland and Portugal.
Indeed, Connor was celebrating his first senior call-up for the Tartan Army, who endured a difficult international window following back-to-back defeats.
Steve Clarke’s side lost out narrowly to a Nicola Zalewski penalty at Hampden, before Cristiano Ronaldo sprung from the bench to leave Scotland empty-handed in Lisbon.
Ross McCausland – Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland 2-0 Luxembourg – Thursday, September 5 – UEFA Nations League
Bulgaria 1-0 Northern Ireland – Sunday, September 8 – UEFA Nations League
Ross featured in both Nations League fixtures for Northern Ireland across the international window.
The 21-year-old was a second half substitute in both as the Green and White Army kicked off their campaign with victory over Luxembourg.
However, disappointment was to follow in Bulgaria for Michael O’Neill’s men, with Ross coming off the bench for the final seven minutes.
Vaclav Cerny – Czech Republic
Georgia 4-1 Czech Republic – Saturday, September 7 – UEFA Nations League
Czech Republic 3-2 Ukraine – Tuesday, September 10 – UEFA Nations League
It was a mixed bag of results for Czech Republic as they commenced their Nations League campaign.
Vaclav was an unused substitute as his side tasted defeat in Georgia, but the Czech Republic responded strongly yesterday evening.
Indeed, the Gers winger laid on Pavel Sulc’s opener with a wicked cross, setting his side on their way to a priceless 3-2 triumph.
Nedim Bajrami – Albania
Ukraine 1-2 Albania – Saturday, September 7 – UEFA Nations League
Albania 0-1 Georgia – Tuesday, September 10 – UEFA Nations League
Nedim started both matches for Albania in their opening Nations League outings.
Albania kicked off with a victory over Ukraine, in which the 25-year-old played 77 minutes.
However, it was a disappointing end to the window in terms of scorelines for Nedim and his side as they were edged out by an impressive Georgia side.
Ianis Hagi – Romania
Kosovo 0-3 Romania – Friday, September 6 – UEFA Nations League
Romania 3-1 Lithuania – Monday, September 9 – UEFA Nations League
Ianis featured twice as Romania collected maximum points in their Nations League outings.
The 25-year-old was a second half substitute in both fixtures, making a telling contribution to his side’s victory over Lithuania on Monday.
With the contest level and the game in its dying embers, the midfielder was brought down inside the penalty area and Razvan Marin stepped up from the spot to make it count and deliver a dramatic late triumph for Romania.
Mohamed Diomande – Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast 2-0 Zambia – Friday, September 6 – African Cup of Nations Qualifying
Chad 0-2 Ivory Coast – Tuesday, September 10 – African Cup of Nations Qualifying
Mohamed featured for the Ivory Coast as they recorded back-to-back victories to strengthen their bid for qualification to the African Cup of Nations.
The midfielder came off the bench in Tuesday’s victory away to Chad as Jean-Philippe Krasso and Oumar Diakite delivered the goals en route to a 2-0 win.
Leon King and Lewis Budinauckas – Scotland Under-21s
Scotland Under-21s 1-2 Spain Under-21s – Friday, September 6 – UEFA Under-21 European Championships Qualifying
Malta Under-21s 0-5 Scotland Under-21s – Tuesday, September 10 – UEFA Under-21 European Championships Qualifying
Leon and Lewis were involved in the Scotland squad as they continued their qualification bid for the Under-21 European Championships.
The young Scots were on the wrong end of a narrow 2-1 defeat to Spain at Tynecastle, but they bounced back emphatically with a resounding win in Malta yesterday evening.
Lewis was an unused substitute for both games but will certainly be better for the experience, while Leon started the contest against Spain in Edinburgh.