CLUB & COUNTRYPATRIOT GAMES
Liverpool’s stars clocked up the air-miles on international duty during 2019, with final
appearances, trophy triumphs and crucial qualifications all in the mixDejan Lovren Croatia
Eighteen months after helping Croatia reach the
World Cup inal, Dejan will be hoping to play a
part in next summer’s Euros. He now has 57 caps
and played in six of the eight qualiiers, scoring
in a 4-0 win away to Slovakia, as Croatia topped
Group E.
Xherdan Shaqiri Switzerland
The Swiss topped a tight Group D ahead of
Hungary and third-placed Republic of Ireland.
Shaq’s injury troubles saw him miss out on the
qualiication process but he did help his country
to the last four of the Nations League in June. He
started both the semi-inal defeat by Portugal and
the third-place play-of against England which
the Swiss lost 6-5 on penalties.
Virgil van Dijk, Gini Wijnaldum
Netherlands
Virgil captained the Dutch to their irst major
tournament inals since 2014 with Gini scoring
eight times as they inished runners-up in Group
C behind Germany. He was on target in a 4-0
home win over Belarus and a 4-2 victory over
Germany in Hamburg, then netted twice in a
4-0 triumph away to Estonia. Two more came in
Belarus – check out his thumping second goal
on YouTube – and he inished with a hat-trick
lourish in a 5-0 win over Estonia in Amsterdam.
Wijnaldum and VVD also featured for Holland in
their 1-0 loss to Portugal in the irst UEFA Nations
League inal in June.
More recently their compatriot Ki-Jana Hoever
helped Netherlands to the last four of the Under-
17s World Cup.Andy Robertson Scotland
Steve Clarke’s men inished third behind Belgium
and Russia in Group I of Euro 2020 qualifying
but were assured of a play-of spot after winning
their UEFA Nations League group last year.
Robbo, who scored a brilliant goal in the 2-1
home win over Cyprus, should be skipper against
Israel in a one-of semi-inal on 26 March with
the winners facing Norway or Serbia for the right
to play in next summer’s tournament.Divock Origi Belgium
Roberto Martinez’s men made light work of
qualifying, topping Group I with a perfect record
of 10 wins out of 10. They also scored 40 goals.
Divock has been a regular member of the squad
but started just one of the qualiiers, the 4-0 win
away to San Marino in September. He came of
the bench as the Belgians signed of by thrashing
Cyprus 6-1 in Brussels.Harry Wilson Wales
The Liverpool loanee played his part in all eight
qualiiers as Ryan Giggs’s side qualiied behind
Croatia. Winger Harry, currently on a season-long
loan at Bournemouth, scored in their penultimate
game, a 2-0 win in Azerbaijan.Roberto Firmino, Alisson Becker,
Fabinho Brazil
One of the highlights of the year for Bobby and
Alisson was winning the Copa America on home
soil – they started all six games on the Selecao’s
route to glory. Firmino scored twice, including
the crucial second that settled the semi-inal win
over Argentina in Belo Horizonte, while Alisson
kept ive clean-sheets and was only beaten by a
penalty in the 3-1 win over Peru in the inal.
Fabinho, a surprise omission from coach Tite’s
23-man national-team squad, returned for his
country’s Global Tour ixtures in the second half
of the year.
Brazil’s focus will now be on defending their
crown at the 2020 Copa America to be held in
Argentina and Colombia from 12 June to 12 July.