International Reds: We check up on United’s players on duty for their countries

Fifteen members of Manchester United’s squad are away with their countries this week, kicking balls on grass in the name of patriotism. Check out our guide to the international break here. Let’s check in and see what’s they’ve been up to, shall we?

Germany 1-0 England

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Chris Smalling broke Phil Jones’ toe, so the latter was on his way back to Manchester before a ball had been kicked. Smalling played just shy of the full ninety minutes in a new look 3-4-3 for England, looking about as relatively competent as he has for United lately. Since then, he’s managed to get himself crocked in training. Luke Shaw got about seven minutes of action, during which - remarkably - he managed to look short of match fitness. Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford both got about 20 minutes of action off the bench. Lingard looked busy without actually doing anything of note (where have we seen that before?), while Rashford made some good runs while looking generally bemused at the incompetence surrounding him (ditto).

Paraguay 2-1 Ecuador

Antonio Valencia played all 90 minutes in Ecuador’s loss World Cup Qualifying loss. He even played on the right wing! Remember when that was a thing?

Argentina 1-0 Chile

Both Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo played the full match in Argentina’s crucial win over Chile, and most importantly: Rojo didn’t break anything.

Ivory Coast 2-0 Russia

Eric Bailly played the full match for the Ivory Coast in their friendly against Russia, picking up a late yellow card. United old boy Wilfred Zaha scored a cracking goal.

Spain 4-1 Israel

David de Gea wasn’t able to keep a clean sheet as Spain made light work of their World Cup Qualifier against Israel, but still made a few impressive saves. Ander Herrera didn’t make it off the bench. Juan Mata didn’t make the squad, but he took some lovely photos on holiday in Berlin.

Italy 2-0 Albania

Matteo Darmian scored a stunning solo go-...only joking. He didn’t make it off the bench.