Internationals: Gallas glee, Arshavin agony

Last month several Arsenal stars and their nations qualified for next summer's World Cup. But for some the agony continued. France and Russia both won the first leg of high-stake Play-Off fixtures and played the second leg of their respective games on Wednesday evening.

In addition to that a host of Gunners are on international duty in friendly matches and Under-21 qualifiers. There's been lot of games over the weekend but fortunately Arsenal.com is on hand to bring you a digest of all the fixtures featuring our players.

Abou Diaby, William Gallas, Bacary Sagna
Republic of Ireland 0-1 France, World Cup Qualifying Play-Off first leg, November 14
France 1-1 Republic of Ireland AET, World Cup Qualifying Play-Off second leg, November 18
William Gallas scored the controversial extra-time goal that took France to the World Cup with a 2-1 aggregate win over Ireland. Robbie Keane's first-half strike had forced the game beyond 90 minutes but Gallas converted Thierry Henry's cut-back from close range. But the decisive strike was shrouded in controversy as replays showed that Henry had handled Florent Malouda's free-kick before picking out Gallas. Bacary Sagna also played 120 minutes in the game and both players had played in the first leg as France earned a 1-0 win. Nicolas Anelka scored that game's only goal in the 72nd minute.

Andrey Arshavin
Russia 2-1 Slovenia, World Cup Qualifying Play-Off first leg, November 14
Slovenia 1-0 Russia, World Cup Qualifying Play-Off second leg, November 18
Andrey Arshavin's World Cup dream is over after Russia lost the second leg of their World Cup qualifier 1-0 in Slovenia. Zlatko Dedic's goal just before half time levelled the aggregate score at 2-2 but Slovenia progressed with an away goal. Arshavin was named man of the match as he captained Russia to a 2-1 victory in the first leg. Dinyar Bilyaletdinov bagged twice for the hosts, first in the 40th minute and then in the 52nd after an assist from Arshavin. However, despite Russia's dominance in the game Nejc Pecnik scored what turned out to be the crucial away goal in the 88th minute of the game.

Emmanuel Eboue
Ivory Coast 3-0 Guinea, World Cup Qualifier, November 14
Germany 2-2 Ivory Coast, Friendly, November 18
Emmanuel Eboue scored for Ivory Coast as they drew 2-2 in Germany. The hosts took the lead through a Lukas Podolski penalty 11 minutes in but Eboue equalised just before the hour mark. Seydou Doumbia then put the Ivorians ahead with six minutes remaining only for Podolski to score a second for Germany in the final minute.
On Saturday Eboue played 90 minutes as Ivory Coast completed their qualifying campaign with a 3-0 victory over Guinea. The Ivorians had already secured a place at the World Cup with a point in Malawi last month. Gervinho scored two first-half goals and Siaka Tiene added a third in the 68th minute for the hosts.

Cesc Fabregas
Spain 2-1 Argentina, Friendly, November 14
Austria 1-5 Spain, Friendly, November 18
Cesc Fabregas played 90 minutes and scored Spain's opening goal of a 5-1 win in Austria. The hosts had gone ahead eight minutes in through Jakob Jantscher but Fabregas equalised just two minutes later. David Villa then bagged a brace to give Spain a 3-1 half-time lead before Daniel Guiza and Pablo Hernandez extended the visitors' advantage shortly before the hour mark.
Fabregas was a second-half substitute for Spain as they beat Argentina 2-1 in Madrid on Saturday. The hosts' first strike came courtesy of Xabi Alonso after 16 minutes. Lionel Messi then levelled the scores with a 61st-minute penalty before Alonso converted a spot kick of his own with five minutes remaining.

Thomas Vermaelen
Belgium 3-0 Hungary, Friendly, November 14
Belgium 2-0 Qatar, Friendly, November 18
Thomas Vermaelen played 90 minutes for Belgium as they beat Qatar 2-0 in an international friendly. Standard Liege midfielder Axel Witsel scored the opener after 20 minutes before Wesley Sonck added a second nine minutes after half time.
On Saturday Vermaelen scored a 56th-minute goal as Belgium defeated Hungary 3-0 in a friendly match. Marouane Fellaini and Kevin Mirallas also scored in the game.

Wojciech Szczesny
Poland 0-1 Romania, Friendly, November 14
Poland 1-0 Canada, Friendly, November 18
Wojciech Szczesny did not feature as Poland lost 1-0 at home to Romania. Daniel Niculae scored the only goal of the game just before the hour mark. Poland then defeated Canada 1-0 on Wednesday with a 19th-minute strike from Maciej Rybus. Szczesny came on in the second half to make his full international debut.

Kieran Gibbs, Henri Lansbury
England 1-0 Portugal, UEFA Under-21 Championships Qualifier, November 14
Lithuania 0-0 England, UEFA Under-21 Championships Qualifier, November 17
Kieran Gibbs limped off injured in the first half of England Under-21s' 0-0 draw in Lithuania. Henri Lansbury made his age-group debut in the match, coming on for the final 11 minutes. Stuart Pearce's side are two points behind Group Nine leaders Greece with a game in hand.
On Saturday England secured a 1-0 home-win over Portugal. Danny Rose scored the Young Lions' goal and Gibbs played 90 minutes at Wembley. Lansbury was an unused substitute in the match.

Vito Mannone
Hungary 2-0 Italy, UEFA Under-21 Championships Qualifier, November 13
Luxembourg 0-4 Italy, UEFA Under-21 Championships Qualifier, November 17
Vito Mannone kept a clean sheet as Italy Under-21s secured a 4-0 away win over Luxembourg. Antonino Barilla opened the scoring after 38 minutes. Roberto Soriano doubled the visitors' advantage midway through the second half before Barilla scored again to make it 3-0. Guido Marilungo added a in the 83rd minute. Italy have seven points from five games so far in their European Championships qualifying campaign.
 Mannone was also in goal as Italy Under-21s suffered a 2-0 defeat in Hungary. Krisztian Nemeth opened the scoring after 15 minutes before Vladimir Koeman sealed the three points with two minutes to go. Italy have just four points from four games and will struggle to win Group Two, which is topped by Wales with 13 points.

Aaron Ramsey
Wales 3-0 Scotland, Friendly, November 14
Aaron Ramsey was named man of the match after playing a part in all three of Wales' goals against Scotland on Saturday. He supplied the cross for David Edwards to volley in the first after 16 minutes and it was his pass that freed Joe Ledley to supply Simon Church for Wales' second. Ramsey then completed the 3-0 win with a superb individual goal. He collected the ball 40 yards from goal, ran past all who challenged him and guided the ball into the net.

Eduardo
Croatia 5-0 Liechtenstein, Friendly, November 14
Eduardo scored twice in Croatia's 5-0 win over Liechtenstein on Saturday. Mate Bilic wasted no time and got off the mark inside the first minute. After 10 minutes Darijo Srna made added a second before Eduardo's brace and a second from Bilic made it 5-0 shortly after half-time.

Robin van Persie
Italy 0-0 Netherlands, Friendly, November 14
Netherlands 0-0 Paraguay, Friendly, November 18
A goalless draw in Italy was overshadowed by an injury to Robin van Persie on Saturday. Click here for the latest news on his injury.

Alex Song
Morocco 0-2 Cameroon, World Cup Qualifier, November 14
Cameroon secured their place at next summer's World Cup with a 2-0 win in Morocco on Saturday. Alex Song played 90 minutes as Achille Webo and Samuel Eto'o scored the goals that ensured Cameroon first place in African Qualifying Group A and direct progression to South Africa.

Philippe Senderos
Switzerland 0-1 Norway, Friendly, November 14
Philippe Senderos played the first half for Switzerland in their 1-0 friendly defeat to Norway. John Carew scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot after 48 minutes. Switzerland qualified for next summer's World Cup as Group Two winners last month.

[Thursday, November 19, 2009]

Print this page Email to a friend