International watch: Samp round-up

Seven Sampdoria players have been involved in international action over the past week – so check out the round-up below for a full rundown of how they got on.

Kristoffer Askildsen. It was a mixed week for the Norway U21s, who kicked things off with a resounding 6-0 win over Gibraltar in Drammen before losing 2-0 to Holland in Almere, a result that leaves Norway facing an uphill battle to qualify for the EURO 2021 finals in Hungary and Slovenia. Askildsenn played 47 minutes against Gibraltar and 80 minutes against Holland.

Vid Belec. Belec watched on from the bench as Slovenia drew 0-0 with Greece before beating Moldova 1-0, with both games played in Ljubljana. Damjar Bohar scored the all-important goal in the second game, leaving Slovenia top of UEFA Nations League Group 3, League C on four points.

Bartosz Bereszynski. Poland began the week with 1-0 UEFA Nations League defeat at the hands of Holland in Amsterdam (Steven Bergwijn, 61 mins), where Bereszynski played the full game. The Samp full-back was then left on the bench as Poland bounce back with a 2-1 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina in Zenica, where goals from Kamil Glik on 46 minutes and Kamil Grosicki on 68 minutes cancelled out Haris Hajradinovic’s 25th-minute opener.

Mikkel Damsgaard. There was one draw and one win for the Denmark U21s, who held onto top spot in EURO 2021 qualification Group H. Damsgaard started the 0-0 draw with Ukraine in Aalborg, coming off in the 63rd minute, before entering from the bench on 58 minutes in the 1-0 win over Northern Ireland at Ballymena Showgrounds, where a late penalty from Andrea Skov Olsen proved the difference.

Albin Ekdal. It was a difficult week for Sweden as they succumbed to back-to-back defeats in the UEFA Nations League. Ekdal played the full game as Sweden were beaten 1-0 by France in Solne in the first match, with Kylian Mbappe scoring the decisive goal on 42 minutes, before coming off the bench in stoppage time as a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo secured a 2-0 win for Portugal in the second outing. Sweden are bottom of UEFA Nations League Group 3, League A on zero points.

Jakub Jankto. The Czech Republic beat Slovakia 3-1 in their first game in Group 2, League B of the UEFA Nations League (Coufal 48, Dočkal pen. 53, Krmencik 86, Schranz 88), with Jankto playing for 68 minutes in Bratislava. In the second game, a 2-1 defeat to Scotland, none of those involved in the first match were able to play after a number of positive COVID-19 tests in the Czech Republic camp.

Morten Thorsby. There was one defeat and one victory for Norway in Group 1, League B of the UEFA Nations League. Thorsby played for an hour as Norway lost 2-1 at home to Austria (Gregoritsch 35, Sabitzer pen. 54, Haaland 66), before watching from the bench as his team bounced back with an emphatic 5-1 win over Northern Ireland in the second game (Elyounoussi 3, McNair 7, Haaland 8 and 59, Sorloth 20 and 48).