Youth International Watch: Success for Vito

This week a host of Arsenal first-team stars are on international duty. But they aren't the only Gunners representing their nations.

A number of the Club's younger stars are representing their countries at various youth levels over the coming days. Arsenal.com will keep you updated with their progress throughout the week.

Jack Wilshere and Henri Lansbury
England Under-21s 1-2 Greece Under-21s
Wednesday, March 2
Jack Wilshere played 90 minutes but Henri Lansbury did not feature as England Under-21s suffered a 2-1 home defeat to their Greek counterparts on Wednesday evening. The match was a top-of-the-table clash in Group Nine of qualifying for the 2011 European Championships and England's defeat means they now sit five points behind leaders Greece having played a game less. Kyriakos Papadopoulos opened the scoring after 28 minutes and shortly after half-time Ioannis Papadopoulos doubled the visitors' lead.

Wojciech Szczesny
Netherlands Under-21s 3-2 Poland Under-21s
Wednesday, March 3
Wojciech Szczesny was in goal for Poland Under-21s as they suffered a 3-2 defeat away to the Netherlands on Wednesday night. The visitors went ahead through Mateusz Cetnarski in the 22nd minute but just before the hour Diego Biseswar equalised for the Netherlands before giving his side the lead with 19 minutes remaining. Moments later Siem de Jong extended the Dutch advantage and though substitute Jacek Kielb pulled one back for Poland with eight minutes remaining, they left Doetinchem empty handed. The result was a major blow to Poland's chances of qualifying for the 2011 European Championships and they are now nine points behind Group Three leaders Netherlands and three behind second-placed Spain.

Vito Mannone
Italy Under-21s 2-0 Hungary Under-21s
Wednesday, March 3
Vito Mannone kept a clean sheet to help Italy Under-21s move to within three points of Group Three leaders Wales in the race to qualify automatically for the 2011 European Championships. The 2-0 home win over Hungary means Italy leapfrog their opponents into second place, though they have played a game more. Okaka scored the first 25 minutes in and substitute Luca Marrone sealed the victory in the 81st minute after both sides had been reduced to 10 men in separate incidents.

Nacer Barazite
Slovenia Promise 2-1 Netherlands Promise
Wednesday, March 3
Nacer Barazite started for a Netherlands Promise team in their 2-1 defeat to a Slovenia Promise side. Matavz put the hosts ahead after 19 minutes and shortly after half-time Mijatovic extended their advantage. Charlison Benschop pulled one back for the Netherlands with 13 minutes left to play but they were unable to find a winner.

Fran Merida
Spain Under-21s 3-1 Liechtenstein Under-21s
Tuesday, March 2
Fran Merida appeared as a second-half substitute to help inspire a Spanish Under-21 victory over Liechtenstein on Tuesday night. Getafe midfielder Daniel Parejo gave the hosts an early lead at El Toralin Stadium but Rony Hanselmann equalised for Liechtenstein just before the hour. With 21 minutes remaining Merida was introduced and four minutes later fired a low shot at goal. It hit the post but Adrian turned in the rebound and Spain confirmed their victory in the final minute when Diego Capel converted a penalty kick. The victory sees Spain reduce the gap with Netherlands to three points at the top of Group Four in qualifying for the 2011 UEFA Under-21 Championships.

Sanchez Watt, Thomas Cruise and Roarie Deacon
Holland Under-19s 1-1 England Under-19s
Tuesday, March 2
Thomas Cruise made his England Under-19 debut as a late own goal denied the Three Lions victory in Holland on Tuesday night. Sanchez Watt also started the match and was replaced by Arsenal team-mate Roarie Deacon midway through the second-half. Jacob Mellis opened the scoring in the seventh minute but the hosts equalised with four minutes to play when Reece Brown deflected the ball into the net. "We played Tom Cruise in midfield and he was pleasing," head coach Noel Blake told the FA website after the match.

Gilles Sunu and Francis Coquelin
France Under-19s 0-0 Ukraine Under-19s
France Under-19s 2-1 Ukraine Under-19s
Tuesday, March 2 and Thursday, March 4
Gilles Sunu and Francis Coquelin were both in the France squad which drew 0-0 with Ukraine in Saint-Jean-de-Braye on Tuesday night but defeated the same opponents 2-1 on Thursday. Koval and Griezmann were the French scorers.

[Thursday, March 04, 2010]

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