Nathan Collins was on target for the Republic of Ireland, during a weekend where a number of Wolves players added to their international caps.
The defender bagged against Greece, while the Nelson Semedo and Mario Lemina made their returns to international football, following periods out of their respective squads.
With qualifying for Euro 2024 and the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 well underway, wolves.co.uk has a round up of Wolves’ international contingent.
Collins | Greece 2-1 Republic of Ireland
Collins’ second international goal wasn’t enough for Republic of Ireland to earn a result in Greece on Friday evening. The Wolves defender fired home from close range to level things up in Athens, and although the offside flag initially denied him, VAR reviewed and awarded the goal. However, after the break the Greeks won the game, leaving Ireland without a win in their opening two group fixtures. Ireland face Gibraltar on Monday, needing to get their campaign up and running, with France, Greece and the Netherlands all sat above Stephen Kenny’s side.
Nathan Collins levels it up! 🙌
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) June 16, 2023
The @Wolves man scores from a corner and after a lengthy VAR review, Republic of Ireland make it 1-1 🇮🇪#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/UlF3q4uE35
Semedo & Neves | Portugal 3-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Portugal continued their perfect start to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a comfortable victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although none of Wolves’ four-man Portuguese contingent of Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo, Toti and Ruben Neves started, Roberto Martinez did call upon them from the bench. Neves was introduced on 62 minutes and soon after swung in a brilliant cross for Bruno Fernandes to head home. Soon after Semedo earned his first cap since November 2021. The pair, as well as Sa and Toti, will hope to earn an opportunity to impress new head coach Martinez when Portugal face Iceland on Tuesday night.
Lemina | Gabon 0-2 DR Conga
Mario Lemina returned to the international scene with Gabon for the first time since January 2022 on Sunday but didn’t mark it with a position result. The Wolves midfielder slotted in a for a 2-0 reverse to DR Congo and picked up a yellow card for his efforts. The result keeps things tight at the top of their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, with Congo and Gabon the top two on seven points each. Their campaign ends in September with a trip to Mauritania.
Other internationals
Hee Chan Hwang played 85 minutes of South Korea’s friendly with Peru on Friday. The forward couldn’t help his country to victory, with Peru shading the contest with a 1-0 victory. Also in friendly action was Ireland’s under-21s captain Joe Hodge, who started in their 2-2 draw with Ukraine, which came courtesy of a late equaliser from the hosts. On Saturday, Matija Sarkic was an unused substitute for Montenegro’s 0-0 draw with Hungary, leaving both countries on four points, behind leader Serbia, who are on six.
Coming up
Euro 2024 qualifying matches continue this week, with Portugal facing Iceland on Tuesday, Ireland locking horns with Gibraltar on Monday and Montenegro playing Czech Republic. Hwang and South Korea have another friendly coming up against El Salvador. Portugal’s under-21s, who have Pedro Neto and Fabio Silva in their camp, face a Euro 2023 group stage triple header against Georgia, Netherlands and Belgium. Boubacar Traore and Mali under-23s will face Gabo, Egypt and Niger in the coming weeks, while Hodge will hope for another Ireland under-21 appearance against Kuwait on Monday.
