International round-up: Arthur, De Jong and Rakitic in action

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A look at how the players are faring with their national teams

Marc-Andre ter Stegen was the first player in international action on Wednesday when he was handed a rare start for Germany in their 2-2 friendly draw against Argentina in Dortmund. The Barcelona star will have been relieved not to have been facing Lionel Messi, who was suspended for the clash.

Germany raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Serge Gnabry and Kai Havertz, However, Argentina hit back in the second half with Lucas Alario and Lucas Ocampos salvaging a draw for the visitors.

Ter Stegen had a decent game and couldn’t really do anything about either of the goals. However, he didn’t really get chance to stake a claim for a starting spot, and we already know he’ll be back on the bench for the next match.

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Next up were Arthur and Brazil who were up against Senegal in a friendly in Singapore. Roberto Firmino opened the scoring for Tite’s men with a chip from a pass by Gabriel Jesus, while Famara Diedhiou hit the equaliser from the penalty spot.

Arthur started the game and managed 68 minutes before being replaced by Matheus Henrique. Moussa Wague was part of the Senegal squad but did not play any part in the match.

Back in Europe and Frenkie de Jong started the Netherlands’ Euro 2020 qualifeir against Northern Ireland in Rotterdam on Thursday. Yet it was a tough night initially for the Dutch who went behind to Josh Magennis’ header after 75 minutes.

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Memphis Depay hit back five minutes later to level it with 10 minutes of normal time remaining. Luuk de Jong then fired the hosts in front in stoppage time before Frenkie set up Memphis for Netherlands’ third in the 94th minute.

Ivan Rakitic’s Croatia were also winners on Thursday. The midfielder was back in the team and included their starting XI for Thursday’s qualifier against Hungary. The hosts cruised to victory through goals from Luka Modric and a brace from Bruno Petkovic.

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All the goals came in the first half, while Hungary went down to 10 after the break when Laszlo Kleinheisler was sent off. Rakitic lasted 74 minutes before being replaced by Nikola Vlasic.

Source: barcablaugranes.com