Thursday, March 28, 2024

International Watch: 4 Gunners Feature In Friendlies

It’s that time of the year again where we focus on how the Arsenal players are getting on with their respective national sides.

And as the Gunners return from a week of celebrations following the FA Cup final victory, we take a look at who featured and how they got on.

Four players featured for their national sides on Sunday 7th June, with the likes of Matthieu Debuchy, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gabriel Paulista missing out on a selection for the first week of friendlies.

Jack Wilshere 

The midfielder played 66 minutes of England’s 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland, and performed well in the holding midfield role, whilst working with Adam Lallana and reported Gunners target, Raheem Sterling.

Wilshere looked fresh after missing out on starting the FA Cup final, and was one of the only players in an England shirt to look up for this one. A boring friendly game that didn’t at all resemble a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude.

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Theo Walcott 

Walcott started the game on the bench whilst playing the Republic of Ireland, just a week after scoring the opening goal in the FA Cup final.

Manager, Roy Hodgson, brought Walcott on in the 82nd minute where he made little impact. Questions were raised whether the striker had picked up a slight knock towards the final minutes but Wenger will be confident it was nothing serious.

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Olivier Giroud

Giroud played 80 minutes of France’s 4-3 defeat to Belgium in a fascinating game. He looked steady from the start but failed to get any clear cut chances in the first half, with the French side going in 2-0 down at half time.

Giroud was substituted for Paul Ntep and suddenly the match came alive, with France scoring two goals in the final 10 minutes.

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Laurent Koscielny 

Another Frenchman featuring in the loss to Belgium, but Koscielny didn’t have the best of days as he played the full 90 minutes, but conceded four goals in the process.

Koscielny looked exhausted playing alongside Raphael Varane, but that could have something to do with the celebrations in the week following last Sunday.

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