Tottenham Hotspur
·5 dicembre 2024
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Yahoo sportsTottenham Hotspur
·5 dicembre 2024
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for 16 of our players over the international break, including a number of those celebrating success in their UEFA EURO 2025 play-off ties.
Eveliina Summanen and Olga Ahtinen played their part in helping Finland secure their spot in next summer’s EURO finals after overcoming Martha Thomas’ Scotland.
Following a goalless draw in Edinburgh, the Finns struck twice in the first half in the second leg to register an important 2-0 win in front of their home crowd in Helsinki.
Eveliina started and completed the full 90 minutes as she provided the assist for the opening goal, laying the ball off to Natalia Kuikka who then sent a powerful shot from distance into the back of the net, while Olga was a second half substitute to help keep Scotland at bay.
Sweden also booked their place in the tournament after an emphatic 8-0 victory over Serbia across the two-legs. Although Amanda Nilden and Matilda Vinberg failed to feature in the two games, the Swedish duo have played an integral role for their nation throughout the qualifying phase.
They will join Jess Naz’s England, Maite Oroz’s Spain and Luana Buhler’s Switzerland in Switzerland, with the main draw taking place on Monday 16 December.
Jess earned a further two caps for the Lionesses after starting at Wembley for the first time in the goalless draw with the United States and was a second half substitute in the 1-0 win over Switzerland, both friendly matches.
Drew Spence was on target for her nation as she helped Jamaica to a 3-2 victory in their second international friendly over South Africa, while fellow midfielder Anna Csiki started in Hungary’s two friendlies against Malta, where they won 3-1 in the first game followed by a 1-1 draw.
Having missed the previous international break due to an injury, Shuang Wang returned to China’s starting XI in their 4-1 defeat to the Netherlands, where she completed 71 minutes for her nation.
There was a special moment for Hayley Raso as Australia visited her hometown, the Gold Coast, in their second friendly against Brazil and she marked the occasion by netting her 20th goal for her country.
However, it wasn’t enough to help the Matildas to victory as they suffered back-to-back losses to Brazil, with Hayley and Clare Hunt starting in both friendlies, while Charlotte Grant featured as a second half substitute in the second game.
Clare and 'Charli' were both named in the starting XI for their friendly against Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, with the two defenders completing 90 minutes in Melbourne as they helped them to a 3-1 victory.
Rounding up the younger age groups, Lenna Gunning-Williams made substitute appearances in both fixtures for England Under-23s, while Araya Dennis featured in all three of the Under-19s qualifying fixtures for the 2025 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Euro.
The 18-year-old, who started in the games against Turkey and Poland, helped Lauren Smith’s side to finish third in their qualifying group and progress to League A for the next round of qualification.