A number of Liverpool stars were in action for their countries on Monday and Tuesday night
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Liverpool pair Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister celebrate scoring for Colombia and Argentina
Liverpool pair Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister celebrate scoring for Colombia and Argentina
(Image: Getty Images)
Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz both enjoyed memorable nights in the latest round of South American World Cup qualifiers as the March international break came to an end. The Liverpool pair were both on the scoresheet for Argentina and Colombia respectively.
Argentina celebrated qualification for next year’s World Cup in style with a memorable 4-1 thrashing of bitter-rivals Brazil. Mac Allister scored his country’s third goal to put them 3-1, before being replaced in the 76th minute shortly after the reigning World champions had extended their lead further.
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The Argentines later admitted that comments from Brazil's Raphinha had motivated them to victory.
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Speaking to Brazilian legend Romario ahead of the game, the Barcelona forward declared: "We are going to beat them up on and off the pitch if necessary. I am going to score. They can s*** themselves! In Argentina, you have to hit them, it hurts! They're b*******."
Unsurprisingly, Argentina’s supporters mocked the Brazilian as his words came back to bite, chanting 'sub on Raphinha' towards the end of the game, while a number of players also stuck the knife in after the final whistle.
They also clashed with Raphinha during the game, as several Argentina players surrounded the former Leeds United forward, who needed to be ushered away by his team-mates, following an ill-timed challenge in the first half.
Meanwhile, Brazil captain Marquinhos apologised to the fans after an "embarrassing" display.
Elsewhere, Diaz registered a goal and an assist as Colombia drew 2-2 with Paraguay, with the Liverpool forward opening the scoring after just 40 seconds for the fastest goal scored in the country’s World Cup qualification history.
AS Diario described his finish into the top corner as a ‘stroke of genius’. He now has six goals in World Cup qualification, having scored in both games during the March international break. Such form is in stark contrast to his current form for Liverpool, with Diaz scoring only once from his last 18 outings.
However, Colombia will have to do without Diaz for their first game during the June international break against Peru with the forward due to serve a one-match ban. He was booked late on against Paraguay for a ‘dangerous tackle’.
ESPNcommented on Diaz’s performance against Paraguay: “Colombia's best player, he opened the scoring with a stunning right-footed goal inside the box and provided an assist for Jhon Duran's second. Lucho was a hothead after Paraguay's equalizer and caused a lot of problems for the opposing defence.”
Liverpool will now hope Diaz returns to Merseyside full of confidence and is able to recreate such form for the Reds during the Premier League title run-in.
Darwin Nunez was also in action for Uruguay on Tuesday night but was dropped to the bench as they drew 0-0 with Bolivia. Introduced as a half-time substitute, the Liverpool forward was one of seven changes made by Marcelo Bielsa following last week’s defeat to Argentina.
Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo were also in action on Tuesday, with the Egyptian completing the full 90 minutes of Egypt’s 1-0 win over Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, the Japanese featured for 74 minutes as Japan drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia.
Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott were in action on Monday. The former was introduced for the final 15 minutes as England won 3-0 at home to Latvia, while the latter played 60 minutes of England Under-21s’ 4-2 friendly win over Portugal. Jarell Quansah was an unused substitute for Thomas Tuchel’s side at Wembley.
A number of Liverpool youngsters were also in action for their nations, with Rio Ngumoha the pick of the bunch. The teenager scored twice and recorded an assist as England Under-17s thrashed Northern Ireland 5-0 on Tuesday.
James McConnell and Trey Nyoni featured for an hour in the England Elite League Squad's 2-2 affair with Switzerland on Monday, while Keyrol Figueroa was introduced as a late substitute as USA Under-20s drew 1-1 with Japan.
Elsewhere, Stefan Bajcetic started for Spain Under-21s on Tuesday, completing 76 minutes as they lost 3-1 to Germany in a friendly. Trent Kone-Doherty came on as a late substitute for Republic of Ireland Under-19s as they lost 1-0 to Germany, while Josh Sonni-Lambie played the full match as England Under-18s lost 1-0 in a friendly with Portugal.