Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior’s hopes of reaching Euro 2024 are still alive after they helped Ukraine and Poland into the play-off finals.
Alex captained his country as they travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovina and played 76 minutes in Zenica, but they looked to be facing elimination when they trailed going into the final five minutes thanks to a Mykola Matviyenko own goal.
However, a late turnaround saw substitute Roman Yaremchuk come to the fore, as he scored and then assisted Artem Dovbyk in the 88th minute to help Ukraine advance into a final against Iceland on Tuesday night, which will be played in Wroclaw, Poland.
Should Ukraine win that game, then Zinchenko will be facing Belgium, Slovakia and Romania in Germany this summer. As for Hein, he'll now be in friendly action against Finland on Tuesday night in Helsinki, after the Fins were beaten 4-1 by Wales to end their Euro hopes.
Kiwior meanwhile now heads to Cardiff for a winner-takes-all showdown after Poland hammered Estonia 5-1 in their semi-final.
Our defender played all 90 minutes against a side featuring fellow Gunner Karl Hein in goal, but after the Poles took a 22-minute lead through Przemyslaw Frankowski, Estonia’s task was made even harder five minutes later when Maksim Paskotsi was sent off for a second bookable offence.
After the break, the home side seized on that advantage thanks to strikes from Piotr Zielinski, Jakub Piotrowski and a Karol Mets own goal. Estonia pulled one back through Martin Vetkal, but Sebastian Szymanski restored the four-goal lead to cruise into the final, with the winner tackling France, the Netherlands and Austria in the summer.
Also in friendly action on Thursday night was Jorginho, as Italy took on Venezuela in Florida. Venezuela held a 1-0 lead until our midfielder entered the fray in the 65 minutes, and he played a key part in turning the result around as he set up Mateo Retegui to complete his brace and hand the European champions a 2-1 win.
That was Jorginho’s 51st cap for his country, and he could add another to his tally when the Azzurri face Ecuador in New Jersey on Sunday.
A host of other Gunners could be selected for their countries over the weekend, however Bukayo Saka and Gabriel won’t be facing each other at Wembley on Saturday night after the duo pulled out of their respective squads because of injury.
Friday, March 22
Norway (Odegaard) v Czechia
Friendly | Oslo | 5pm
Spain (Raya) v Colombia
Friendly | London Stadium | 8.30pm
Saturday, March 23
Republic of Ireland v Belgium (Trossard)
Friendly | Dublin | 5pm
England (Ramsdale, Rice) v Brazil
Friendly | London | 7pm
France (Saliba) v Germany (Havertz)
Friendly | Lyon | 8pm
Sunday, March 24
Ecuador v Italy (Jorginho)
Friendly | New Jersey, USA | 8pm
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