Tottenham players making mark internationally over weekend

For the last week football players from across the globe have been meeting up with their opposition turned mates for a number of international matches. After a slow start for many of the Tottenham Hotspur stars out serving their countries in international action, several Spurs had big impacts over the weekend. As nations look to advance and qualify for more prestigious future tournaments, Tottenham players are doing their part – well some are.

Big Names – Big Impact from Tottenham

With Heung-Min Son not in action for South Korea as he nurses an injury, the two biggest names for Tottenham Hotspur in action over the break are Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris and both did their part in helping their countries win on Sunday.

Hugo Lloris as captain of defending World Cup Champion France did his part in a 0-2 shutout of Kazakhstan. Playing on the road at Astana Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan; France dominated most of the match with Lloris along with Antoine Griezmann as the only two holdovers from Les Bleus following a 1-1 draw in their opening match with Ukraine in France.

Given the changes, Tanguy Ndombele came in and joined Lloris in the starting line-up playing as one of two holding midfielders with Paul Pogba – demonstrating the embarrassment of riches in the France side. Ndombele did his part before being withdrawn for fellow Spur Moussa Sissoko for the last eight minutes of the match.

Considering Ndombele did not even make the squad Wednesday and Lloris gave up an own-goal in the draw, it was markedly better for France against a willing and hungry Kazakhstan side.

Harry Kane was the headliner for England today

Harry Kane was in the squad earlier in the week for England’s pasting of San Marino but never made it off the bench. Sunday against Albania was a different story for the Three Lions skipper as Kane scored and assisted in the 0-2 win in Albania.

The first goal was very much a move great strikers make as Harry Kane took a hopeful cross from Luke Shaw and turned it into glory with a quick move to get in front of the defender and head the ball into the corner. Kane simply wanted it more on that occasion and it paid for the goal and lead before the half.

In the second half as we often see in football, the continuous pressure upfront on the Albania defense led to a turnover and the end of the match. A poor pass from the back was intercepted by Raheem Sterling who fed the ball forward to Harry Kane. As Spurs talisman has done all season he found the open man by playing a nice first time diagonal to Mason Mount on the run in the box.

The Chelsea man finished with aplomb and Kane had his assist to go with his goal and the win England wanted as they look to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. With two wins in two the Three Lions are off to a roaring start with one more qualifier against a very good Poland team on Wednesday.

As for Kane, he probably went home thinking he should have had a hattrick on the day having hit the crossbar once and then blasted over from about six yards out during another opportunity. Those misses are the kind that could come back and haunt a team in a different situation, but for the day against Albania, the two goals were enough.

Not all Spurs experienced smooth sailing over the weekend

While England is off to a strong start and France is back on track for qualification, not all of the Spurs players out internationally had great weekends. Troy Parrott was out of the Ireland squad midweek and then came on for the final two minutes of Republic of Ireland’s 0-1 loss to Luxembourg.

Spurs’ Matt Doherty had started that match but was pulled at halftime with an apparent injury. Doherty completed all 26 of his pass attempts in the half according to whoscored.com but the loss leaves the Republic of Ireland in a tough place in terms of qualification.

Elsewhere, Toby Alderweireld again started and went 90 minutes for Belgium as the Red Devils came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic. Alderweireld was again the right back in a back three with former Spur Jan Vertonghen on the left.

The Netherlands was back in the wins after losing their opening qualifier 4-2 to Turkey. Tottenham’s Steven Bergwijn replaced Memphis Depay at the 89th minute in the 2-0 win over Latvia to get qualification for the Dutch back on track.

Denmark stayed on track with their second win in two, as both Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and former Spur Christian Eriksen were observers from the bench in the Dane’s 8-0 win over Moldova. Finally, Gareth Bale made an appearance going for the last few minutes for Wales in a 1-0 win over Mexico in an International Friendly match.

Most of the Tottenham players have one more match coming then will be returning to N17 for the big run-in. Hopefully, the injuries suffered are not severe and everyone comes back hungry and ready for the games to come.