With Bukayo Saka withdrawn from the England national team squad, several of his teammates, 14 in total were called up for their respective nations and three featured last night. Gabriel scored his first international goal for Brazil with a thumping header in the 1-1 draw with Bolivia. This was the first time the Selecao dropped points in the CONMEBOL qualifiers, following wins over Bolivia and Peru in the last round of matches. Gabriel will be odds on to feature again for Brazil in a tough fixture against Uruguay on next week Wednesday.
Club captain, Martin Odegaard, played 77 minutes in Norway’s 4-0 trouncing of Cyprus. Erling Haaland, finally released from William Saliba’s pocket, was on the prowl with a brace, while goals from Alexander Sorloth and Fredrik Aursnes completed the rout. Odegaard’s next game will be a big one for the Vikings, as Spain comes to town hoping to secure their passage to the football mundial at Germany. With Scotland currently on 15 points, and Spain on 12, La Furia Roja will need at least a draw against Norway (10 points) to put a foot in the Euros in Germany, as the games are running out.
Sticking with Spain, David Raya was expectedly on the bench, as the Reds favor Unai Simon in international clashes, but it was a huge game in the group, as Spain needed a win against runaway leaders, Scotland, to gain a foothold in the group. Goals from Alvaro Morata and Oihan Sancet gave the Spaniards an all-important win ahead of another crunch clash against Norway. I’d expect Raya to spend some time on the bench yet again and exchange pleasantries with Odegaard after the 90.
Finally, Mo Elneny continued his road to full fitness, featuring for Egypt in their narrow friendly win over Zambia. The braided Pharaoh will continue to bide his time and I’m sure Arteta will get him some much needed minutes in the plethora of games to come in this grueling campaign.
Tonight, we expect Takehiro Tomiyasu and his Blue Samurai, fresh from their huge friendly win over Germany to take on Canada. Reserve goalie, Karl Hein will be expected to be in the sticks for Estonia as they take on Azerbaijan and the English contingent of Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale and Eddie Nketiah will be aiming for some game time in the friendly against the Socceroos of Australia.
Elsewhere, it has been reported that Arsenal’s current Under-18s manager, Jack Wilshere, has been interviewed for a permanent role at Colorado Rapids as a manager. Five other candidates have been nominated for the role, but the tabloids are earmarking Wilshere for the role, bearing in mind that Colorado Rapids is a KSE-owned club, which is affiliated with Arsenal. Wilshere has stated his desire to delve into senior management despite being happy at Arsenal, and I hope he gets the role, because it will be a very different preposition for him, especially with his age.
Colorado Rapids are struggling badly in the MLS Western Conference this season, winning only five of their 32 matches, which forced the management to pull the plug on the gaffer, Robin Fraser.
We will monitor the situation closely and hopefully KSE and the higher ups will free Wilshere from the evil clutches of the Academy manager, Per Mertesacker,
“His ambition naturally is one day to go somewhere and coach a first-team, but I’m not letting him at the moment.”
Wilshere led the Arsenal Under-18s to the FA Youth League Cup final last season, a tournament he won as a youngster, but West Ham were too strong on the day, thrashing Arsenal 5-1, despite the Young Gunners picking up an early lead. Wilshere must have learned from that gutting experience and has continued to put in the shift in the new campaign, but the lure of senior management may be too strong for the Englishman to remain with the Arsenal yoot* but let’s see how that progresses.
Sayonara.
Follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily.
Visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page.
Click on the “Follow button” to join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List
The post International Roundup and Wilshere Wanted by Colorado Rapids appeared first on Gooner Daily.
