Everton trio Baines, Barkley and Jagielka were all in the squad as England breezed past Lithuania in their Euro qualifier. Baines played the full 90 minutes, whilst Barkley was brought on for Jordan Henderson for 19 minutes, but is tipped to start against Italy on Tuesday night*. Jagielka was an unused substitute.
Former Toffee, Wayne Rooney, opened the scoring for England after previously hitting the post. England debutant Harry Kane was also on the score sheet.
On Saturday, on loan winger Christian Atsu played 80 minutes as Ghana were defeated 2-1 by fellow African team Senegal. Mo Besic, however, had more joy as he helped Bosnia and Herzegovina to a 3-0 win over Andorra- Premier league associate Edin Dzeko netting an impressive hat-trick.
Sunday saw another day of mixed results, with four senior players on international duty. Steven Naismith found the back of the net as Scotland beat Gibraltar 6-1 despite Shaun Maloney’s opening goal being cancelled out within a minute. Another Premier League player got an international hat-trick- this time Sunderland’s Steven Fletcher. Naisy made way for Jordan Rhodes on 64 minutes.
Our three Irish Evertonians were all given starts by Martin O’Neill, as James McCarthy, Seamus Coleman and Aiden McGeady all featured in a difficult draw against Poland at the Aviva Stadium. The Republic of Ireland found themselves 1-0 down on the half hour mark and had to wait till the 91st minute to equalise as Southampton’s Shane Long fired home. McGeady came off on 68 minutes, while Coleman and McCarthy played the full match.
Young Internationals
Everton starlets Luke Garbutt and John Stones came off the bench and helped the young Lions defeat hosts of the competition Czech Republic 1-0, after midfielder Tom Carroll scored just after the restart.*
Republic of Ireland under-19 Harry Charsley played the full 90 minutes against Germany as after coming from behind were 2-1 up, but two late goals from the Germans overturned their lead, more or less ensuring Ireland will not reach the European Under-19 Championship. Jindrich Stanek at the same age level also suffered defeat as Czech Republic lost 3-0 to Slovakia.
John Stones and Luke Garbutt played 90 minutes for England Under-21s against Germany, and helped them to an impressive 3-2 victory over the Germans.
Editor’s note on last night’s results
Ross Barkley did not start Tuesday night’s game at Italy, as he was expected to, but provided a bright cameo from the bench in the 1-1 in Turin. Phil Jagielka completed the 90 minutes and looked assured for most of the game.
Mo Besic came on as a half time substitute for Bosnia in their 1-1 draw in Vienna and created Izet Hajrović’s goal within two minutes of entering the field, while Brendan Galloway played the full 90 minutes in England U-19’s disappointing 2-1 defeat in France.
