It was a proud evening for Wolves duo Jose Sa and Toti on Thursday evening as the pair made their senior debuts for the Portugal national team.
Goalkeeper Sa and defender Toti had both represented their country at junior level but have had to wait for the opportunity to make their first-team bow. However, their dream of earning a full Portugal cap finally came in last night’s 2-0 win over Liechtenstein.
They were not the only members of Gary O’Neil’s first-team squad to feature yesterday, and wolves.co.uk rounds up the action which took place featuring the Old Gold internationals, as well as preview today’s fixtures.
Jose Sa & Toti | Liechtenstein 0-2 Portugal
Having been present in several Portugal squads during their time at Wolves without making an appearance, both Sa and Toti were in from the start on Thursday night to make their senior international debuts. With Portugal already having booked their place in next summer’s Euros, manager Roberto Martinez gave the Wolves pair their chance in their penultimate qualification group match. Sa and Toti played the whole 90 minutes as Portugal ran out comfortable winners over Liechtenstein, with the pair performing well to help keep a clean sheet, as well as maintain their country’s 100 per cent record in Group J. With Sa between the sticks, Toti played in front of his Wolves teammate in a back three, alongside former Old Gold midfielder Ruben Neve, as goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo earned the win. Portugal are back in action on Sunday (7.45pm kick-off) as they return home to face Iceland in their final qualification fixture.
Hee Chan Hwang | South Korea 5-0 Singapore
The goalscoring form of Hee Chan Hwang continued on the international stage on Thursday afternoon, with the forward netting the second goal in South Korea’s romp of Singapore to get their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign off to the perfect start. After taking 44 minutes to open the scoring, Korea exerted their dominance in the second half, with Hwang getting the ball rolling when, following a clever run by PSG’s Kang-in Lee, Gue-sung Cho’s cross into the penalty area was met by a charging run from the Wolves man, to head his country into a two-goal lead. Three more goals followed before full time, which sees Korea top AFC qualification Group C, ahead of China, Thailand and Singapore. Hwang will be hoping to add more goals to his tally when his country face China in their second qualifier on Tuesday afternoon (12pm).
Mario Lemina | Gabon 2-1 Kenya
Having missed the October internationals for his country, Mario Lemina is back with Gabon this week and his first game for the team came against Kenya on Thursday afternoon. Also starting their quest to reach the World Cup in three years’ time, Gabon made a poor start to their qualification campaign, with a mix-up in the defence leading to Kenya opening the scoring just before half-time. However, Lemina – playing in his usual role in the heart of the midfield – and his teammates rallied after the break, with Denis Bouanga and a thunderbolt effort from the Wolves man’s midfield partner Guelor Kanga securing the three points. Lemina played the opening 68 minutes of the 2-1 win, and will be aiming to be back on the pitch on Sunday (1pm) as Gabon take on Burundi in CAF qualification Group F.
Elsewhere
Sasa Kalajdzic played the final half an hour for Austria as he was back in the team for their final Euro 2024 qualifier. Having already booked their place in Germany next summer, the 2-0 win over Estonia puts Kalajdzic’s side at the top of UEFA qualification Group F, two points ahead of second place Belgium, but the Belgians still have one game left to play against Azerbaijan on Sunday. With their qualification campaign complete, Kalajdzic and Austria have a friendly to play next week, as they take on Germany on Tuesday evening (7.45pm). Rayan Ait-Nouri was an unused substitute for Algeria as their World Cup qualification campaign started and will be hoping to be back in the team for their second CAF Group G qualifier away to Mozambique on Sunday (1pm).
Coming up…
Wolves’ remaining internationals could all see action on the pitch during the next few days, with Matt Doherty and the Republic of Ireland set to face the Netherlands in their final Euros qualification match on Saturday (7.45pm). Currently sat in fourth place in Group B, even a win will not earn Ireland a spot in Germany, but it could put a big dent in the Dutch’s qualification aims.
Tom King and Wales face two Euro 2024 crucial qualifiers this week, and will hope to earn three points away to Armenia on Saturday (2pm), before Fabio Silva and the Portugal under-21s face Greece on Monday (2pm).
