Speaking of break, apologies for my brief hiatus on the blog for the entirety of March 2022. I was in an offsite location with internet connectivity as good as Alexandre Lacazette’s goal scoring form, so to a certain degree, you could understand my predicament. My last blog post was focused on Arsenal’s Carabao Cup adventure but the Gunners were on fire in the Premier League, grabbing three wins (Watford, Leicester and Aston Villa) from the four the month had to offer. The only defeat came against the juggernauts from Liverpool, but on another day, the result could have been different, especially with the way Gabriel Martinelli made mince meat out of Trent Alexander-Arnold on a consistent basis. 

As expected from a team with players in such great form, with Bukayo Saka nominated for the EPL Player of the Month, as well as Martinelli’s strike at Watford earning him a nomination for the Goal of the Month, several players were called up to represent their respective nations in crucial world cup qualifiers and friendlies. Without further ado, let’s review the performances of the Arsenal players during the international break.

England – With Aaron Ramsdale still nursing a hip injury and Bukayo Saka withdrawing from the England squad after testing positive to COVID, Ben White and Emile Smith-Rowe were the Arsenal contingent that represented the Three Lions in their friendly victories over Switzerland and Ivory Coast. White played the entire match in the victory of the Swiss, and notched up 45 minutes as a right back in the Ivory Coast game. ESR didn’t feature against Switzerland but notched up 30 or so minutes in the win over Ivory Coast. White has grown from strength to strength following his £50m move from Brighton, and he has turned out to be one of the most consistent performers for the Gunners this season. Glad to see him banking those well-deserved minutes for England in the international break.

Portugal – Cedric Soares was an unused substitute in Portugal’s World Cup qualifying matches against Turkey and Macedonia. He would be elated to qualify for the football fiesta in Qatar but with Diogo Dalot and Joao Cancelo playing ahead of him in both games, his place in his nation’s side has to be under some threat.

Scotland – Kieran Tierney played 180 minutes in Scotland friendly draws against Austria and Poland. Playing as a LCB, Tierney got his first Scotland goal after 31 caps with a textbook header from a delicious John McGinn set piece. Tierney and his lads felt hard done by when the ref awarded a penalty in the 93rd minute when Kyzysztof Piatek was scythed to the ground by the veteran goalie, Craig Gordon. The forward picked up himself and sent the goalie the wrong way to salvage a draw for the Poles. Tierney contributed from an attacking standpoint in the draw against Austria with an assist.

Brazil – Gabriel sat at home, while his younger compatriot, Gabriel Martinelli, received his first call up to the Brazil national team. The maverick came off the bench twice in Brazil’s resounding 4-0 victories over Bolivia and Chile. Despite not getting on the score sheet, Martinelli’s confidence continued to soar as he managed to put up some excellent displays on his cameos.

Switzerland – Swiss captain, Granit Xhaka, played in both friendlies against England (which they lost) and Kosovo (where they shared the spoils). As you’d expect from the cultured midfielder, Xhaka was spraying pass after pass for his nation, and will be satisfied with the displays for his nation.

Egypt – Mohamed Elneny and his Egyptian team mates would really hate the sight of the Senegalese national team. It’s bad enough that Senegal captured the African Cup of Nations crown from the hands of Egypt early in the year, but the Senegalese were at it again, eliminating the Egyptians via the lottery of penalty shootouts. Elneny featured in central midfield in both games and sadly, will miss out on the football mundial come November 2022.

Ghana – Thomas Partey turned out to be the national hero of his nation, as his goal in the Jollof Derby against Nigeria turned out to be pivotal, with the Black Stars of Ghana qualifying ahead of their arch-rivals via the away goals rule. The first leg in Kumasi was a goalless stalemate, with both sides having it all to do in the second leg at Abuja, but it was Partey’s goal with Ghana’s first attempt on target that sent his nation into raptures, as they basked in the euphoria of yet another World Cup qualification.

Norway – Martin Odegaard was in very good form for Norway over the international break, as he scored the match clincher in the 2-0 win over Slovakia in the first of two friendlies the Scandinavian side won. The second game was a whitewash as Odegaard bagged two assists in the 9-0 demolition of Armenia. The Gunners will be hopeful he carries this form to the Premier League ahead of a crunch fixture against Crystal Palace on Monday night.

Belgium – Albert Sambi Lokonga was unused substitute in Belgium’s matches against Ireland (draw) and Burkina Faso (win). The young midfielder has been on the periphery in recent months and would probably remain so bar any injuries or suspensions to the core midfield personnel.

Ivory Coast – Nicolas Pepe featured in both friendly defeats for Ivory Coast against France and England. The club’s record signing, received a routine throw-in from Ibrahim Sangare on the right, skipped past the Hernandez brother’s and smacked one in from Hugo Lloris’ near post. We have always know Pepe is capable of coming up with the goods – the challenge has always been his consistency.

The most important bit of news from the international break is that no Arsenal player received any injuries, as Mikel Arteta will have all his guys for the next 10 ‘cup finals’.

Sayonara.

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