June Internationals: Brighton players warm up for Euro 2020

Euro 2020 (in 2021) is just around the corner and whilst Ben White making his England debut took all the headlines from the first round of June internationals, there were several other Brighton players in action as preparations for the tournament reach their final stages.

Of course, we have to start our round up at the Riverside Stadium where White became only the fifth Albion player ever to play for the Three Lions, following in the footsteps of Tommy Cook, Peter Ward, Steve Foster and Lewis Dunk.

White took over from Jack Grealish for the final 19 minutes of England’s 1-0 win over Austria. Gareth Southgate clearly appreciates the 23-year-old’s versatility as he used him as a central midfielder with White almost making an instant impression with a 25 yard volley which was not far away.

When Trent Alexander-Arnold limped off, White then had a chance to prove his worth at the other end. Jordan Pickford ended up in a heap on the ground after attempting to punch clear, leaving Alessandro Schopf with what appeared to be an open goal to equalise into.

That was until White did what the very best defenders do and got himself into the right place at the right time to clear Schopf’s goal bound effort off the line.

Without this very Dunk-esque intervention, England draw 1-1 and there would have been plenty of questions about their ability to live up to the tag of being one of the favourites for Euro 2020 (in 2021)… imagine that, a Brighton playing saving Southgate after the Three Lions manager’s constant ignorance of all things good at the Amex for the past two years.

White’s confident display coupled with Alexander-Arnold being ruled out of the tournament means that many fans are now clamouring for White to be included in Southgate’s 26 man squad for Euro 2020 (in 2021).

The appeal is obvious. White can provide cover in both defence and midfield, a versatility that would be very welcome given that doubts remain over the fitness of both Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson.

Southgate though has some very funny ideas – hello Tyrone Mings international footballer – and so it seems unlikely that he will take the sensible option of selecting White.

Whether Southgate puts him on the plane or not, what White’s 19 minute debut in Middlesbrough did show us is that he should have a long future as an England international.

24 hours after White had enjoyed himself in the north east, Leandro Trossard and Belgium had a far less fun time of it in Brussels where they were held to a 1-1 draw by Greece.

The Red Devils are the number one ranked team in the world but they failed to live up to that billing, not helped by the absence of Kevin De Bruyne who remains sidelined with the fractured nose and eye socket he suffered from in the Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea.

Trossard was introduced from the bench for the final 16 minutes in place of Yannick Carrasco, who had earlier assisted Thorgan Hazard for the host’s goal.

Georgios Tzavellas notched the equaliser for Greece – who failed to qualify for Euro 2020 (in 2021) – eight minutes before Trossard entered proceedings.

Joel Veltman and the Netherlands were also held to a disappointing draw as their clash with the might of Scotland in Portugal ended 2-2. It took an 89th minute free kick from Memphis Depay to spare the Dutch from an embarrassing defeat against a below-strength Tartan Army, who twice led.

Jack Hendry opened the scoring for the Tartan Army after 10 minutes. Depay levelled things up with his first of the game before half time but Scotland were back ahead after substitute Kevin Nisbet scored with his first touch.

That looked like it would be enough to give the Scots a famous win until Depay struck right at the death. Veltman had to settle for watching the entire 90 minutes from the bench having missed the Albion’s final four matches of the season through injury.

There is little love between Poland and Russia for very obvious reasons. Those two foes met in Wroclaw where Jakub Moder was a second half substitute in a 1-1 draw which started pretty intently but fizzled out in the second half as both sides made numerous changes.

Moder was one of those, replacing Karol Swiderski with 67 minutes played. Jakub Swierczok gave Poland the perfect start as they led after only four minutes. Right back Vyacheslav Karavayev scored Russia’s equaliser midway through the first half.

Completing the preparations of Brighton players involved in Euro 2020 (in 2021), Robert Sanchez was an unused substitute as Spain drew 0-0 against defending European Champions Portugal.

Recent rumours from the land of tapas, sangria and having a two hour nap in the middle of the afternoon had suggested that Sanchez could start as Spain number one going into the tournament.

Those hopes must surely now be over, unless Luis Enrique is willing to use a goalkeeper with zero international caps during the competition.

90 minutes against Cristiano Ronaldo in a friendly looked like the perfect opportunity to test Sanchez at the highest level, rather than finding out if he can handle it by chucking him into a tournament which the Spanish will have high hopes of winning.

Not that anybody should feel disappointed. For Sanchez to even be in the Spain squad is some achievement. This time last year, he was the Albion’s fifth choice goalkeeper having just completed a pretty average loan spell in League One with Rochdale. It has been an incredible rise for the 23-year-old.

The Republic of Ireland might not be going to Euro 2020 (in 2021) but they were still in friendly action with two Brighton players in their squad for a test against the might of Andorra.

Now you might think we are being sarcastic there – remember though that the Republic lost one of their March internationals against the might of *checks notes* Luxembourg.

Thankfully for the Boys in Green, there was no embarrassment this time as they ran out 4-1 winners. Shane Duffy played the final three minutes with Jayson Molumby an unused substitute.

Aaron Connolly missed the match through injury, putting his time off to interesting use if you believe the video which popped up on Twitter earlier in the week.

Friendlies in Europe and drunken accusations filmed in kebab shops on West Street were not the only action to kick off June with. Over in Asia, Iran recovered from shock defeats against Iraq and Bahrain to get their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a 3-1 win over Hong Kong.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh wore the captain’s armband in the victory, departing the action after 58 minutes with his side leading 1-0. Ali Gholizadeh put Iran 1-0 ahead in the first half. Vahid Amiri and Karim Ansarifard scored after Jahanbakhsh was replaced, giving the hosts a 3-0 lead until a late consolation from Cheng Siu Kwang.

Australia meanwhile ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Kuwait. A clean sheet for Maty Ryan – yes, he is still an Albion player – means that he has now recorded three shutouts in four games since leaving Brighton for Arsenal.