Ladislav Krejci put in a Player of the Match performance on his debut outing as Czech Republic captain to lead his country into the World Cup play-off final at the expense of the Republic of Ireland.
The centre-back is one of nine Wolves first-team players who have been called up for international duty this week, but he is the only one with a place in this summer’s World Cup on the line.
With four of Rob Edwards’ squad already in action this week and several others to follow in the coming days, wolves.co.uk rounds-up all the action featuring Wolves players so far this week.
Ladislav Krejci | Czech Republic 2p-2 Republic of Ireland
After being handed the captain’s armband for his country earlier this week, Krejci repaid the faith in him by producing one of the performances of his life to secure Czechia a place in the World Cup play-off finals. Despite falling two goals down to Ireland inside the opening 23 minutes, Czechia battled back valiantly with Krejci being the lynchpin to their fightback. Just two minutes after Ireland’s second, a corner was played to the far post to Krejci and as the Wolves centre-back attempted to get his shot away, was dragged back inside the box to win his side a penalty which was converted. Then with three minutes of the 90 remaining, Krejci popped up from a free-kick near the corner to head his country level and send the game to extra time.
With the teams unable to be separated after 120 minutes, the semi-final went to penalties and after stepping up first, Krejci made no mistake with his spot kick. With Czechia going on to score four of their five, Ireland could only manage three, meaning it was victory for Krejci and his men. Now all that stands in their way of a place in the World Cup this summer is a play-off final with Denmark in Prague on Tuesday (31st March, 7.45pm).
Mateus Mane | Azerbaijan U21 0-4 Portugal U21
Mateus Mane made his Portugal under-21 debut on Friday morning after being named on the bench for their European U21 Championships qualification clash away to Azerbaijan. After representing England at under-18 level previously, Mane was called up by the country of his birth for their March qualifiers and came on with 20 minutes remaining in the 4-0 win. Portugal were already three goals up when the 18-year-old joined his former Wolves teammate Carlos Forbes on the pitch, replacing Benfica's Goncalo Moreira - who had opened the scoring earlier in the second half. A fourth goal was added just six minutes later to leave Portugal top of Group B with 16 points from their six matches so far this campaign and a clash at home to second place Scotland to come on Tuesday (7.30pm).
Jackson Tchatchoua | Australia 1-0 Cameroon
One of the many Wolves players whose nations are in friendly action this week is Jackson Tchatchoua, although the right wing-back was an unused substitute in Cameroon’s FIFA World Series fixture against Australia. The World Series pits national teams from a wide range of confederations and rankings, who would not normally compete, together for friendly fixtures and Cameroon's clash with Australia was decided in the final five minutes of the game as the hosts found a late winner. Despite being able to make eight changes during the friendly, Cameroon boss David Pagou made just three, meaning Tchatchoua remained on the bench throughout the match. Tchatchoua will hope to be part of the Cameroon side on Tuesday when they face another friendly game in Australia against China (7am).
Yerson Mosquera | Colombia 1-2 Croatia
With their place in the World Cup already secured, Colombia are preparing for this summer’s tournament with a pair of friendlies against European opposition in the USA. First up for Yerson Mosquera’s side were Croatia on Thursday night, but the Wolves defender was an unused substitute as his nation fell to a 2-1 defeat. Former Old Gold forward Jhon Arias got the scoring underway for the South Americans inside the opening three minutes, but Croatia equalised moments later before adding the winner just before half-time. Mosquera will be hoping to get some minutes under his belt when Colombia face France on Sunday (29th March, 8pm).
Elsewhere
Wolves under-21 midfielder Xu Bin made his international debut this morning as he helped China to a 2-0 friendly win over Curacao. Part of the same FIFA World Series group as Tchatchoua and Cameroon, Xu Bin – who captained China to the final of the recent U23 Asian Cup – played the opening 67 minutes of his debut outing at senior level and will now prepare to face Cameroon in a second friendly of the international period on Tuesday.
Coming up
Five other Wolves players whose countries already have their places at the World Cup this summer confirmed will also hope to be in friendly action over the weekend, with Santi Bueno and David Moller Wolfe first up later this evening.
Bueno is with Uruguay as he makes the short trip to Wembley to face England, while Wolfe and Norway head to the Netherlands for their friendly fixture, with both games set to kick-off at 7.45pm.
Hee Chan Hwang is with South Korea once more as they host Ivory Coast – who have his former Wolves teammate Emmanuel Agbaodu in their squad – in Milton Keynes on Saturday afternoon (2pm kick-off).
On Sunday, two Wolves players face friendlies in North America, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Haiti set to face Tunisia in Canada (12am kick-off), and Jose Sa’s Portugal due to take on Mexico from 2am.
