Morning all.
Viktor Gyokeres is going to the World Cup. The Arsenal man struck a late winner for Sweden last night to secure a 3-2 win over Poland. It was, I guess you’d say, a typical striker’s goal, in the right place at the right time to put the ball in the back of the net after one shot was blocked, one saved, and another rebounded off the post back back into his direction.
What a moment for him and for Sweden. After a hat-trick in the semi-final against Ukraine, he came up clutch, as they say. Afterwards, he said:
To do it on home soil is indescribable. We believed in it until the end and that’s why we’re in the World Cup. Regardless of whether you get a lot of balls or not, you try to be connected and present. That was me, especially at the end when we had some half-dangerous chances.
Clearly he didn’t get a lot of service. He had one shot, one shot on target, and one goal, but that’s all it takes to win a game. Hopefully what he has done on international duty sees him return to Arsenal full of confidence, and boosted by his goalscoring. We absolutely need him to bang a few in when we get down to business again, so congrats to him, and to all our Swedish readers, and commiserations to our Polish contingent too.
Riccardo Calafiori is not going to the World Cup. Italy took the lead early on against Bosnia and Herzegovina but were reduced to 10 men in the first half after Alessandro Bastoni was sent off. It went to extra-time and to penalties, but Italy missed a couple and for the third successive tournament failed to qualify. It’s mad to think that’s happened given their history and pedigree at the World Cup, especially given the increased number of teams, but while it clearly says something about Italian football, it also demonstrates the quality that exists in other nations these days.
Fair play to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but Mikel Arteta probably has a bit of a pick up job to do with Calafiori who played 120 mins, most of it with 10 men. There will be physical and mental impacts, but he still has a big job to do with Arsenal. Similarly, Christian Norgaard’s Denmark went out on penalties to Czechia, the team who beat Ireland in the semi-final. He played an hour of that game, so won’t be as physically affected, but it’ll obviously be a big disappointment to him otherwise. Unlucky Denmark, and well done Czechia.
Elsewhere, David Raya and Cristhian Mosquera played in Spain’s 0-0 draw with Egypt; Ben White started for England in a 1-0 defeat to Japan; Gabriel Martinelli was on the scoresheet for Brazil as they beat Croatia 3-1, and it was a very smart finish too, one I’d like to see a bit more often from him; while for England U21s the two Hale End boys, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, stole the show. The former provided two assists for the latter, and there’s even an MLS highlight reel from this game.
There’s been a lot of chatter about him recently, particularly in relation to a potential midfield role due to some of the absences we have, and while I’m not necessarily convinced it’s something Mikel Arteta will do, performances like this one could potentially be very useful for Arsenal. I just can’t envisage a situation where Lewis-Skelly doesn’t have a role to play between now and the end of the season, whether that’s at left-back (where he started last night) or elsewhere, so positive minutes for England U21s won’t hurt one bit.
The last bit of Interlull action for this season comes from England U19s where Max Dowman scored an excellent goal in a 6-0 win over Portugal. I know we have to not go overboard, and also recognise the level, but when any player picks up the ball in their own half, drives forward, then finishes with aplomb from the edge of the opposition box, you’ve seen something a bit special. It’s hard not to think there’s going to be another Dowman moment before it all plays out this season.
So, now it’s a case of getting everyone back, assessing their fitness, and assembling the squad for the final push. Hopefully some of those who didn’t play, or were forced to withdraw, have benefitted from what is, in the grand scheme of things, scant rest in comparison to what’s asked of them week in, week out for club and country. Now though, our attention turns to two cup competitions, before we start to consider the Premier League again. More on all of that in the days ahead.
Finally for today, big news for Arsenal app users. Right, have a good one folks, till tomorrow.