Samp stars in international action

It’s been another packed international break for several Blucerchiati players, with the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia fast approaching and the European Under-21 Championship qualification campaign beginning to enter its critical phase.

We start with Group 3 of European Under-21 Championship qualifying, which sees Denmark and Poland locked in a battle for top spot.

Joachim Andersen was named in the Danish starting line-up for their clash against Georgia at the Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium, but the Danes were held to a 2-2 draw by the hosts (Kharaishvili 31, Skov 43, Mikeltadze 63, Nissen 75). Andersen remained on the field for the full 90 minutes.

Dawid Kownacki captained Poland U21s as they took on Lithuania – who can no longer qualify for the finals – in Lublino. It was an impressive performance by the young Doria striker, who bagged the winner on 78 minutes to send Poland top of the group on 14 points, one clear of Denmark. Titas Krapikas was an unused sub for Lithuania.

Montenegro – also with no hope of qualifying – lost 2-0 to France (Amian Adou 60, Augustin pen. 87), with Samp youngster Ognjen Stijepovic playing the full 90 minutes. Montenegro are rooted to the bottom of Group 9.

At senior level, Ivan Strinic was an unused sub during Croatia’s 1-0 win over Mexico in Arlington, Texas. An Ivan Rakitic penalty on 62 minutes was enough to secure the victory for Croatia, who were in need of a boost following their shock 2-0 defeat by Peru a few days ago.

Gian Marco Ferrari also remained on the bench for the entirety of Italy’s 1-1 draw with England at Wembley. Jamie Vardy gave England the lead on 26 minutes, but a late Lorenzo Insigne penalty ensured the spoils were shared in North London.

Taking place a few miles to the south was Colombia’s 0-0 draw with Australia at Craven Cottage in Fulham. Duvan Zapata was an unused sub for the South American side, who were unable to follow up their comeback 3-2 win over France with another victory.

Samp goalkeeper Vid Belec started his second successive game for Slovenia against Belarus in Ljubljana, but the Slovenes succumbed to another defeat as Belarus won 2-0 (Skyvysh 36, Saroka 90+4).