International Break Comes To A Close As 10 Foxes Star
- Ten Leicester City players featured in the third international break of the 2018/19 season
- Ben Chilwell's England secured a place in the inaugural UEFA Nations League finals
- The Foxes left-back provided a crucial assist in Sunday's 2-1 win over Croatia at Wembley Stadium
- England's Under-21s enjoyed successive victories, as Demarai Gray netted against Denmark
- Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel also starred as Denmark sealed promotion
- Kelechi Iheanacho's Nigeria qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations
Chilwell, 21, first starred in a 3-0 home friendly success over the United States before providing an assist for Harry Kane’s 85th minute winner in a 2-1 victory over Croatia.
In his five appearances so far for Gareth Southgate’s men, who are currently ranked fifth in the world, Chilwell has helped the national side to four victories and three clean sheets.
Following a debut from the bench at King Power Stadium in September, a 1-0 win over Switzerland, Chilwell's full debut came during a 0-0 behind-closed-doors draw in Croatia.
He then played a key role in last month’s memorable 3-2 win over Spain in Seville – England’s first away success over the 2010 world champions since 1987.
Yesssss! Nations League finals! #ThreeLions @England 🦁🦁🦁 pic.twitter.com/K3b22xzzPf
— Ben Chilwell (@BenChilwell) November 18, 2018
A 57-minute outing against the USA on Thursday 15 November – his maiden senior international appearance at Wembley – followed before last Sunday’s clash with Croatia.
Following that last-gasp win, England finished top of Group A4 and will compete with Portugal, Switzerland and the Netherlands in the competition’s inaugural finals in June 2019.
Demarai Gray, 22, also featured twice for England’s Under-21s in consecutive away friendly victories over Italy and Denmark, scoring past City colleague Daniel Iversen – currently on loan at Oldham Athletic – in the latter.
The Young Lions, who have already sealed progress to next summer’s UEFA U21 European Championship, overcame Italy 2-1 in Ferrara before Gray netted in a 5-1 victory in Esbjerg.
Aidy Boothroyd’s men are now unbeaten in 22 games and among the favourites to lift next summer’s European title in Italy.
Elsewhere, Kasper Schmeichel was once again in stellar form for Denmark as they gained promotion to the Nations League’s top tier with a 2-1 win over Wales on Friday 16 November.
With the scoreline at 1-0 thanks to Nicolai Jorgensen’s effort, Schmeichel, 32, pulled off a crucial save to turn away Gareth Bale’s free-kick with just seven minutes to play.
While Foxes duo Danny Ward and Andy King didn’t feature on that occasion, both started a 1-0 friendly defeat by Albania in Elbasan on Tuesday evening.
🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/18fQbatihA
— Kasper Schmeichel (@kschmeichel1) November 16, 2018
Following the victory over Wales, Denmark finished Group B4 in first place with eight points, two more than Wales and six above the Republic of Ireland, who were subsequently relegated.
Wales’ match against Albania marked King’s 50th cap for his country, while young midfielder George Thomas, on loan at Sky Bet League 1 side Scunthorpe United, was an unused substitute.
City’s Jonny Evans, 30, on the other hand, took his tally of caps for Northern Ireland to 76, but Michael O’Neill’s men were held to a 0-0 draw by the Republic of Ireland in Dublin before a narrow 1-0 loss to Austria at Windsor Park, confirming their relegation to League C.
Defensive partner Çağlar Söyüncü completed successive 90-minute outings for Turkey, firstly in a 1-0 defeat by Sweden, before a 0-0 friendly draw with Ukraine at New Antalya Stadium.
However, Turkey will also compete the second Nations League campaign in League C after finishing bottom in Group B2, below promoted Sweden and second-placed Russia.
Elsewhere, Kelechi Iheanacho, 22, featured twice for Nigeria, first playing for just under 70 minutes in an 1-1 draw with South Africa, confirming their spot at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The following week, his nation were held to a 0-0 friendly stalemate by Uganda.
Twenty-one-year-old Bartosz Kapustka – on loan at Belgian side Oud-Heverlee Leuven – also ran out in a 1-0 loss for Poland’s Under-21s against Portugal, before later turning the two-legged U21 European Championships qualifier on its head with a 3-1 success on Tuesday to secure safe passage.
Young defender Alex Pascanu – the recipient of a maiden senior Romania call-up – was an unused substitute as his country beat Lithuania 2-0 and Montenegro 1-0 in their final Nations League Group C4 games, leaving them second in their pool after all six matches.
Finally, striker Islam Slimani, 30, who is spending the 2018/19 season at Turkish Süper Lig side Fenerbahçe, did not feature as Algeria qualified for AFCON with a 4-1 win in Togo last Sunday.