Several Chelsea players were in action across the international break. Chris Bradford assesses how they performed.
Willian had an extraordinarily productive and rewarding international break with the five-time World Champions, Brazil. The 29-year-old continued his rich vein of form with the international side with two assists in their two fixtures. He set up Brazil’s third goal (scored by Paulinho) in the 3-0 victory in Moscow against 2018 World Cup hosts, Russia. Willian also assisted Gabriel Jesus who headed past ‘keeper Kevin Trapp in Brazil’s 1-0 win at the Olympiastadion against current World Champions, Germany.
Antonio Rudiger was an unused substitute for Germany in their 1-1 draw with Spain on Friday night. The 25-year-old played the full 90 minutes in the aforementioned defeat against Brazil. Rudiger indeed continued his club form with the World Champions. Calm and precise, as ever on the ball, racking up an impressive 95.6% pass accuracy and had the second most touches with 101.
Davide Zappacosta featured in Italy’s two international fixtures. He came on as a substitute for Alessandro Florenzi in their 2-0 defeat to Argentina, played at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. Zappacosta also completed the full 90 minutes in Italy’s 1-1 draw against England at Wembley. The Italian looked stable enough defensively in the right-back position, tried to get forward on a couple of occasions but did not offer anything promising.
Olivier Giroud scored in France’s 3-2 home defeat against Columbia. It was a relatively simple goal where the Frenchman capitalised on a David Ospina goalkeeping error. N’Golo Kante completed the full 90 minutes, producing another consistent performance. A passing accuracy of 87.1% and was heavily involved in the play – racking up the fourth highest number of touches. Kante lasted 66 minutes in France’s 3-1 victory away in Russia and Giroud got another 20 minutes under his belt.
Willy Caballero had a mixed international duty it is fair to say. Making his international debut at 36 is an exceptional achievement and kept a clean sheet too as a bonus in Argentina’s 2-0 victory against Italy. He performed well, particularly in the second half when Italy came into the ascendency and looked composed on the ball. However, Willy and Argentina had a bit of a mare – a 6-1 embarrassment at the hands of 2010 World Champions, Spain, in Madrid. Replacing Sergio Romero after 22 minutes, Caballero conceded five of the six Spanish goals. The worse thing was that Spain scored with all six shots on target.
Marcos Alonso was an unused substitute in the 1-1 draw away to Germany. Alonso replaced Jordi Alba after 80 minutes in La Roja’s 6-1 win over Argentina. Although only featuring for 10 minutes, it was nonetheless a proud moment for Alonso who received his first international call-up.
Victor Moses scored a penalty and completed the full 90 minutes in Nigeria’s 1-0 win over Poland. It was a defensive and resilient performance from the Super Eagles who were extremely clinical considering Moses’ penalty was their only shot on target. Moses and the Super Eagles had no such luck against Serbia, falling to a 2-0 defeat. Moses was replaced at halftime.
Eden Hazard featured for 59 minutes in Belgium’s 4-0 triumph against Saudi Arabia. The dynamic Hazard created a moment of pure inspiration to set up Romelu Lukaku’s strike. Moments before the hour-mark, he was replaced by Michy Batshuayi, who controlled the ball well and produced an instinctive flick before firing the ball into the goal.
The next time Chelsea players will be on international duty is when the 23-man World Cup squads are announced in May. Back to Cobham and prepare for Tottenham on Sunday. 28 years, don’t let it be you!
Written by Chris Bradford – @bradford_cfc97
