Ferguson the star Brighton turn on international duty so far
If you needed another indication of how far Brighton have come in the past decade, Brighton have 28 (TWENTY EIGHT) players on international duty during the March break.
Trying to keep up with that lot is going to be more difficult than tracking the lies of Boris Johnson, but we are going to give it a bloody good go nonetheless.
Evan Almighty
And where else to begin than Evan Ferguson? Fresh from scoring twice against Grimsby Town to fire the Albion into the semi finals of the FA Cup, the 18-year-old marked his full Republic of Ireland debut with a goal in a 3-2 win over Latvia.
Ferguson has already shown himself capable of scoring many different types of finish, from sublime control like his first past the Mariners to the brilliance in the air displayed through that bullet header at Leicester City.
His first for the Boys in Green required quick reactions and a clinical strike to convert Michael Obafemi’s cutback.
In the process, he became the youngest Republic of Ireland goal scorer since Robbie Keane. Not bad company to be in.
Callum O’Dowda had given the hosts the lead at the Aviva Stadium before Ferguson doubled the advantage. Latvia however rallied and goals from Roberts Uldrikis and Arturs Zjuzins had the tie level going into half time.
That set the stage for Republic of Ireland substitute Chiedozie Ogbene to hit a 65th minute winner, after which Ferguson was withdrawn to a standing ovation.
Of course, nobody should be getting too carried away just yet. The Boys in Green have much sterner tests ahead, starting on Monday night when they kick off their Euro 2024 qualification campaign against France in Dublin.
Also in the Republic’s difficult group are the Netherlands, Greece and Gibraltar. But are you even a Brighton fan if you are not lumping on TonyBet for a Ireland to win the Euros and Ferguson golden boot double?
Mac Allister makes his homecoming
Argentina were in action for the first time since being crowned World Champions. The week got off to a strange start for Lionel Messi after news spread that he was a in a steak restaurant in Buenos Aires.
Thousands of football fans subsequently flocked to said restaurant, effectively trapping Messi inside. After several hours, he required a police escort to get out.
Brighton fans may love Alexis Mac Allister, but it seems unlikely that several hundred are going to gather outside Latino Grill next time he pops in for some home comforts and a lovely bottle of Malbec.
Messi of course scored in Argentina’s 2-0 friendly win over Panama with a beautiful 89th minute free kick. He also rattled the bar with two earlier efforts, one of which led to the opening goal when Thiago Almada scrambled home the rebound.
Mac Allister was denied in the first half by a good one-on-one save from Panama goalkeeper Jose Guerra, whose heroics kept the hosts at bay for the best part of 80 minutes.
The Albion midfielder had already departed by that point, making way at half time for goal scorer Almada. Facundo Buonanotte was not named in the matchday squad having received his first international call up.
Three Brighton men at work in a land Down Under
Moises Caicedo, Pervis Estupinan and Jeremy Sarmiento faced a mighty long trip to the other side of the world to face Australia in two friendly matches.
After causing so much excitement at the World Cup, the first was something of a disappointing return to action as Ecuador were beaten 3-1 in Sydney.
Unfortunately for Brighton, Sarmiento limped off after 30 minutes with an injury since confirmed as a broken metatarsal. As much raw ability as Sarmiento possesses, the frequency with which he is ruled out is starting to become a bit of a concern.
Sarmiento had underlined his talent by setting up the Ecuador goal. A lovely cross was headed past Maty Ryan by Felix Torres to level the scores after Jackson Irvine had put the Socceroos ahead.
Awer Mabil fired Australia back into the lead once Sarmiento had departed before a second half strike from Garang Kuol wrapped up victory.
Caicedo came close to pulling one back with an effort rising towards the top corner needing a fine save from Ryan to keep it out.
Both Caicedo and Estupinan completed the 90 minutes. With a big Premier League game to come next weekend against Brentford, the Albion will be hoping their La Tri representatives are used more sparingly when the sides meet again on Tuesday.
Mitoma Mania on the rise
Kaoru Mitoma filled the role of super sub for Japan at the World Cup. His form for Brighton since the winter break has become impossible to ignore and so he started on the left side of midfield as the Samurai Blue took on Uruguay in Tokyo.
Mitoma soon had the crowd buzzing with a series of trademark charges down the flank. One such run saw Mitoma carry the ball 60 yards from inside his own half to feed Takuma Asano, whose weak effort was easily repelled.
Uruguay took a first half lead through captain and Real Madrid star Federico Valverde, whose 38th minute header was against the run of play in a first half dominated by Japan.
The hosts equalised on 76 minutes when substitute Takuma Nishimura scored with his first touch, converting a low cross from fellow replacement Junya Ito as it finished 1-1.
