Wolves had multiple players in international duty on Thursday night with impressive performances all-round, here’s how they fared.
Gary O’Neil had six of his players in the running to appear for their national sides on Thursday and he will have been extremely impressed by a few. Portuguese duo Jose Sa and Tori Gomes made their debuts for their country, while Hee-Chan Hwang featured in South Korea’s 5-0 thrashing of Singapore.
Elsewhere, Sasa Kalajdzic, Mario Lemina and Rayan Ait-Nouri were all in the chance of playing for their respective countries. All Wolves players eligible saw their countries win yesterday, but how did they get on?
Here is how our Wolves stars fared while on international duty…
Hee-Chan Hwang – South Korea
Hwang probably enjoyed the best outing yesterday as he played a huge role in South Korea’s 5-0 win against Singapore. Wolves’ top scorer struck in the 49th minute to make it 2-0 at the time.
The win, gets South Korea off to the best possible start in Group C of the World Cup qualification. Leading second place China by a goal difference of four.
Next up for Hwang and South Korea will be a game against China on Tuesday, which could be an early marker to lay down that they are favourites to progress.
Toti Gomes – Portugal
The first of two Wolves players making their Portugal bow against Liechtenstein was Gomes. Starting at centre-back and playing the entire game, he gave a solid showing which should ensure it isn’t his last.
120 touches with a 96% passing accuracy (107/111) according to SofaScore shows how suited he is to playing in a possession side. The opponents offered little in the way of threat as his defensive stats show, but he did win four duels and two tackles.
Strong showing that we imagine will have impressed Roberto Martinez, this won’t be his last cap. Portugal are aiming for 10 wins out of 10 in qualifying against Iceland on Sunday.
Jose Sa – Portugal
The other debutant was Sa who had basically nothing to do, but did very well in everything asked of him. Making one save of the one needed from inside the box, he did well.
SofaScore shared his stats which showcased his distribution as the most impressive aspect. 17/18 passes completed which is 94%, but other than that he had the quietest debut he could’ve wished for.
Barely putting a foot wrong but wasn’t in the position to put one wrong, Martinez will likely call him back at some point.
Sasa Kalajdzic – Austria
Kalajdzic was a 63rd minute substitute for Austria during a 2-0 win over Estonia. Despite limited minutes, Kalajdzic won four duels and completed a dribble.
The game was already won when he came on, so there isn’t much to report on his performance. However, the win for Austria has put them top of their group just ahead of Belgium.
We are delighted to see Sasa continue upon his path of returning to full fitness as he progressively becomes more and more important for Wolves.
Mario Lemina – Gabon
Lemina played for Gabon in a 2-1 win over Kenya yesterday in the opening game of World Cup Qualification. Lemina has been vital for Wolves this season under O’Neil.
Clearly his impact is also being had on Gabon who will hope he can drive them towards a World Cup.
Rayan Ait-Nouri – Algeria
Fresh of the back of a Patrice Era compliment, Ait-Nouri was an unused substitute as Algeria defeated Somalia 3-1 in World Cup qualifiers.
He will have been disappointed to not pick up another cap, but will have high hopes of facing Mozambique on Sunday.