Goals, dances and goalkeeping heroics: Milan stars shine on international duty again

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SempreMilan

·20 November 2024

Goals, dances and goalkeeping heroics: Milan stars shine on international duty again

Head coaches often hold their breath when the international break comes around, worrying what condition their players might come back in as they travel around the continent and even the world.

There were 15 AC Milan players called up to represent their respective national teams across a number of different countries, and there were already some storylines of note before a ball had been kicked.

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Firstly, Fonseca didn’t like the Spain coach stating Alvaro Morata would play for them so that was a situation to watch, as was the mystery surrounding Luka Jovic who was called up by Serbia despite being injured.

Noah Okafor seemed to have been completely frozen out by the Switzerland head coach Murat Yakin after a European Championship that was far from ideal but played himself back into the squad, and then there was the Italy-France game at San Siro which had added layers of intrigue.

So, just what did we learn from the latest round of international games? We have summarised the key talking points.

American Boys

As seems to be the status quo now with Christian Pulisic for club and country, he was decisive again. The winger managed to get himself a goal and an assist in the two games against Jamaica, but he took the headlines for another reason.

Following the ball hitting the back of the net in the second leg of their 5-2 aggregate Nations League win, he wheeled away in celebration. Rather than doing his trademark tattoo-over-the-eyes, Pulisic opted to copy the dance of recently elected US President Donald Trump.

“Well obviously that was the Trump dance. It was just a dance that everyone’s doing. He’s the one who created it. I just thought it was funny. I saw everyone doing it yesterday in the NFL, I saw Jon Jones do it. We’re just having a bit of fun, so I thought it was a pretty fun dance,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yunus Musah also had a successful couple of games as he started twice and managed to get an assist. What is worth noting is that in the two games he played as a right winger in a 4-2-3-1, with Mauricio Pochettino perhaps inspired by Fonseca’s use of him against Real Madrid.

Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images

Feeling right at home

There was a rather strange experience for Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez on Sunday night, as they were guests at San Siro rather than the home side. Theo, it must be noted, did not play due to a slight knee issue.

Italy just needed to avoid losing to France by two goals in order to seal top spot in their UEFA Nations League group, however they were well beaten 3-1 by Les Bleus in the end.

Adrien Rabiot scored inside two minutes then an own-goal from Guglielmo Vicario doubled the advantage. Andrea Cambiaso halved the deficit and had the Azzurri back on course for first, until Rabiot’s 65th-minute goal secured a brace and also top.

After the match, a photo emerged showing Theo and Maignan with Daniel Maldini and Sandro Tonali which sent the Milan fanbase into a bit of a frenzy. The latter two continue to be linked with returns, but for now the picture will have to suffice.

Maignan got a clean sheet in the first game of the break (a disappointing 0-0 vs. Israel) and he made a brilliant stop right at the death to deny Moise Kean and maintain the two-goal advantage, earning himself praise from the media and his side top spot.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Another disaster

Unfortunately we have some bad news to sandwich between the good, and it concerns summer signing Strahinja Pavlovic who continues to be eluded in his search for a turning point.

After making an admission in his press conference after sitting on the bench for Serbia’s first game that he doesn’t like not starting, things were going well for the centre-back against Denmark after 89 minutes.

During the last international break, the former Red Bull Salzburg fan found himself on the receiving end of a dismissal when his side faced Spain, and once again he got a red card against Denmark on Monday night.

He got a yellow card in the final minute of normal time and then a second one in the 95th minute to be given his marching orders. However, it was not symbolic of a poor performance, but instead a sour note after a decent performance.

If he is to earn a regular starting spot back with Milan then the discipline side of things that Pavlovic really must work on and not just in terms of receiving cards, but also positional awareness and knowing when to make strong challenges.

Keep on surfing

Rafael Leao was the protagonist of Portugal’s 5-1 victory against Poland in the Nations League, opening the scoring in the 59th minute with a solo run that began from his own area and ended with a header on an assist from Nuno Mendes.

After his brace in Cagliari, Leao kept up his good form by showing his game-breaking ability for his country. This is what the Milan fans are also asking of him on Saturday 23 November at San Siro against Juventus, a non-decisive but certainly indicative crossroads in the Scudetto hopes.

In a press conference before the first game with Portugal he spoke about being very happy at Milan and how in his eyes the ‘issue’ with Fonseca had been resolved. His focus is fully back on being the best player he can be for club and country, with the goals proving that confidence has returned.

Leao also played 71 minutes of the second match against Croatia and he was tried in a new role: a striker in a 3-5-2 alongside Joao Felix who scored the goal in a 1-1 draw. A bit of versatility can’t hurt.

Photo by Portugal’s national team

Chukwueze strikes

Chukwueze was the first Milan player to take the field with his national team on Monday evening, and he scored off the bench for Nigeria against Rwanda.

It was a bittersweet game for the winger given that he started on the bench and then was brought on in the World Cup Qualifier at the start of the second half. Just 20 minutes later he gave his team the lead with a great solo goal, beating a couple of players and finishing well.

The evening then took an unexpected turn for the Super Eagles, who conceded in the 72nd and 75th minutes to Rwanda, who scored with Mutsinzi and Nshuti. Nonetheless, they finished in first place in this first phase of qualification anyway.

Chukwueze has found himself in and out of the Milan team this year and the latest indications are that he will not start against Juventus on Saturday. Goals like that one for Nigeria will give Fonseca a headache.

The Azzurini dazzle

Francesco Camarda managed to score two goals in three games in the last 10 days for coach Bollini’s U19s. The team passed the qualifying round for the next European Championships with full points in the process.

The striker will therefore return to Milan fired up and ready for the rest of the season. The 16-year-old now hopes that there may be another call-up to the first team for the match against Juventus on Saturday at 18.00 CET.

Against Cagliari he started but now Alvaro Morata is back and Tammy Abraham is in better condition, though Luka Jovic continues to have problems with pubalgia (lower back pain) and for this reason a third striker on the bench could be useful for Fonseca.

The Italy U20s won both games over the break and Adam Bakoune shone in the 4-1 win over Romania in the second match. With 23 minutes on the clock, he converted a rebound to open the scoring, while Kevin Zeroli and Lorenzo Torriani celebrated on the bench.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Other news

Tijjani Reijnders started the first game for the Netherlands against Hungary in the UEFA Nations League, but remained an unused substitute against Bosnia on Tuesday night meaning he will return rested.

Alvaro Morata played a portion of Spain’s game against Denmark off the bench after passing concussion tests, then started against Switzerland and won a penalty which he handed to Pedri.

Speaking of the Swiss, Okafor played for 65 minutes as a left winger in their 1-1 draw with Serbia, and then came on for the final 18 minutes of the 3-2 defeat to Spain a few days later.