Internationals: Ramsey scores in Wales win

Six members of our first-team squad were involved in World Cup qualifying matches on Tuesday night.

The European ties saw Aaron Ramsey’s Wales and Nacho Monreal’s Spain take on Moldova and Liechtenstein, while Alexis and David Ospina were in South America, and Mohamed Elneny and Takuma Asano also in action for their countries.

Scroll down to find out how they performed:

Aaron Ramsey

Moldova 0-2 Wales

Tuesday, September 5

Aaron Ramsey scored Wales’ second goal in their 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Moldova. Our midfielder had the chance to put his country ahead when he followed up Gareth Bale’s powerful strike, but Moldova goalkeeper Ilie Cebanu recovered well to keep him out.

In the end it took an injection of pace from Ben Woodburn to break the deadlock. The Liverpool youngster burst past his man before crossing for Hal Robson-Kanu to head home. With Wales heading towards victory, Ramsey made sure of the three points by firing a deflected strike into the far corner.

Nacho Monreal

Liechtenstein 0-8 Spain

Tuesday, September 5

Nacho Monreal played the full 90 minutes in Spain’s new-look back three during their 8-0 thrashing of Liechtenstein. The defender lined up alongside Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos, and it was the latter who struck after just three minutes, finishing David Silva’s cross.

Alvaro Morata, Isco and Silva then struck to take Spain into the break four goals ahead, before Iago Aspas struck either side of Morata’s second goal and Maximilian Goppel turned past his own goalkeeper to complete the World Cup qualifying rout.

David Ospina

Colombia 1-1 Brazil

Tuesday, September 5

David Ospina played the duration of Colombia’s World Cup qualifying draw with Brazil. Making his 81st appearance for his country, the goalkeeper made a superb save to save Roberto Firmino, throwing himself to his left to push the Brazilian’s strike wide.

Ospina was unable to keep out Willian, though, who gave Brazil on the stroke of half-time. But Colombia came back straight after the restart, with Radamel Falcao equalising to secure a valuable point in Barranquilla.

Alexis

Bolivia 1-0 Chile

Tuesday, September 5

Alexis played the full 90 minutes of Chile’s shock World Cup qualifying defeat to Bolivia. In the end it took Juan Arce Justiniano’s penalty to settle the game, with the Bolivian beating Claudio Bravo from the spot on the hour mark.

Chile now sit sixth in South American World Cup qualifying, and face an uphill battle to secure one of the four and a half berths on offer.

Mohamed Elneny

Egypt 1-0 Uganda

Tuesday, September 5

Mohamed Elneny played the entirety of Egypt’s World Cup qualifier win over Uganda in Alexandria. The game was decided by Mohamed Salah’s early goal and, as a result of their victory, Hector Cuper’s side have returned to the top of Group E.

Takuma Asano

Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan

Tuesday, September 5

Takuma Asano was a half-time substitute in Japan’s World Cup qualifying defeat against Saudi Arabia. The forward replace Keisuke Honda at the interval but was unable to make an impact, with Fahad Al Muwallad striking for the hosts on the hour mark.

Despite the defeat, Japan still sit top of their qualifying group, ahead of Tuesday night’s opponents by one point after 10 games.