Express & Star

How Wolves' 10 international stars have got on

Wolves had 10 of their 19-man first-team squad go away on international duty, so let’s see how they got on.

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(Clockwise from top left) Rui Patricio, Raul Jimenez, Matt Doherty and Leander Dendoncker are four of the 10 who have been away (AMA)

Portugal

Rui Patricio, Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota

Goalkeeper Patricio played a vital role as Portugal won Euro 2016, with a statue of him later being unveiled in Leiria because of his stellar showings, and featured in both of their qualifiers for next year’s tournament.

The 31-year-old kept a clean sheet as they kicked off their qualifying campaign with a goalless draw against Ukraine last Friday, but was beaten by a Dusan Tadic penalty in a 1-1 draw with Serbia on Monday as star man Cristiano Ronaldo went off with an injury.

Pass-master Moutinho, who was also part of that triumphant squad three years ago, started against Ukraine but did not feature against Serbia – and it was the same story for Neves, who earned his 10th cap in the process.

Ruben Neves (AMA)

Jota, after being called up to the senior set-up for the first time, was an unused substitute for both matches.

But every cloud has a silver lining and the in-form forward should have no problem being ready for Saturday’s trip to Burnley.

Mexico

Raul Jimenez

Someone who is returning more fatigued is Jota’s strike partner Jimenez though as, while he did not play, he was in the squad as Mexico beat Paraguay 4-2 in a friendly in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

He featured in another friendly for them on Saturday and, unsurprisingly given his form in old gold as of late, scored.

Jimenez struck from the penalty spot, opening the scoring in a 3-1 win over Chile, and was taken off in the 75th minute.

Belgium

Leander Dendoncker

Dendoncker was ever-present as Belgium kicked off their Euro qualifying campaign in convincing fashion.

He marshalled the midfield in a 3-1 victory against Russia and a 2-0 triumph over Cyprus, and him and fellow youngster Youri Tielemans were praised by boss Roberto Martinez for their efforts.

“Tielemans and Dendoncker played as if they have been in the team for years,” said Martinez.

Morocco

Romain Saiss

Saiss was one of many Morocco heavy hitters rested for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Malawi on Friday, which ended 0-0.

Romain Saiss (AMA)

He then came into the side for a big-time friendly against Argentina on Tuesday, playing the full 90 minutes as they lost 1-0 courtesy of a late Angel Correa goal.

Ireland

Matt Doherty

Former Wolves boss Mick McCarthy put wing-back Doherty at right-wing in a 1-0 win against Gibraltar, as Everton’s Seamus Coleman was at right-back, but he struggled and was taken off before the hour.

He then came off the bench for the final eight minutes in Tuesday night’s victory by the same scoreline against Georgia.

England Under-19

Morgan Gibbs-White

Wolves’ rising star was involved as England missed out on qualifying for the European Under-19 finals, starting all three of their games.

He played his part in a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic and scored a penalty in a 2-1 loss to Greece before playing a half in a 2-2 draw with Denmark.

Portugal Under-20

Ruben Vinagre

Vinagre played in a 1-0 loss to Germany but didn't feature in the 1-0 win against England.