International Reds Round-Up

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Due to the sheer number of injuries in the Liverpool squad at present, there were few Reds on international duty on Saturday.

Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson both missed England’s 1-0 defeat to Brazil in Dubai, midfielder Lucas Leiva was an unused sub for the South Americans.

Over in Madrid, former Liverpool team mates Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano squared up as Spain hosted Argentina. It was Alonso who came out on top, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win for the home side. Pepe Reina replaced Iker Casillas in the last minute to allow for a standing ovation on the keeper’s 100th appearance for his country.

Across Europe the Dutch were in action against Italy, playing out a drab 0-0 draw. Dirk Kuyt played the full 90 while Ryan Babel played a cameo role from the bench for the last 20 minutes, something he is used to from his club football! Holland play Paraguay on Wednesday, in Holland thankfully.

The only player to actually take part in a match of importance was Sotirios Kyrgiakos, whose Greece side played out a 0-0 draw against the Ukraine in the first leg of their World Cup play-off. The second leg takes play in Ukraine on Wednesday. Good luck Sotirios.

Martin Skrtel impressed as Slovakia enjoyed a 1-0 win over the United States. Slovakia face Chile on Wednesday.

Fernando Torres, Albert Riera (Spain), Daniel Agger (Denmark), Yossi Benayoun (Israel) and Fabio Aurelio (Brazil) were all unavailable for their country due to injury.