Blucerchiati in international action: mixed bag for Samp stars

Seven Sampdoria players were away on international duty over the last week with their respective national sides.

Italy trio Lorenzo De Silvestri, Andrea Ranocchia and Roberto Soriano enjoyed mixed fortunes in friendly matches against Spain and Germany.

The Blucerchiati full-back was the only one of the three to feature against the reigning European champions in Udine, coming on for the last four minutes of the 1-1 draw (Insigne 68, Aduriz 70).

De Silvestri and Ranocchia both came off the bench in the 61st minute against Germany at the Allianz Arena as the Azzurri were beaten 4-1 (Kroos 24, Gotze 45, Hector 59, Ozil 75, El Shaarawy 83).

Doria skipper Soriano was an unused substitute on both occasions.

Niklas Moisander was called up for Finland’s friendlies against Poland (a 5-0 defeat) and Norway (a 2-0 defeat) but was unable to take part in either match due to flu.

Meanwhile Luis Muriel’s Colombia picked up two wins in their World Cup 2018 qualifying group. The Samp striker was a 69th-minute substitute in a 3-2 victory against Bolivia in La Paz then remained on the bench in last night’s 3-1 defeat of Ecuador in Barranquilla. Jose Pekermann’s side are currently fifth in the South American group, which would mean a play-off against the winners of the Oceania group.

Elsewhere Milan Skriniar and David Ivan helped Slovakia Under-21s crush their Turkish counterparts 5-0 to consolidate their position at the top of Group 8 in the qualifying round for the 2017 European Championships. The defender played the whole game while the midfielder came on in the 42nd minute.