On Friday night, two Reds qualified for the Euros, and a third, who may soon be required by his club, performed admirably for his nation.
A Kylian Mbappe brace gave France a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands as Liverpool’s center defense duo of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate lined up against one another.
Van Dijk and Konate appeared to have banged heads during a set piece at one point, but it seemed that the rare occasion when they had to compete with one another in the air caused no significant harm.
The victory was sufficient for France to qualify for Euro 2024, as Konate and his colleagues continued to dominate Group B.
Next summer, he will be joined in Germany by Diogo Jota, a substitute who helped Portugal finish qualifying with a 3-2 victory over Slovakia.
The 26-year-old was limited to a late cameo as Cristiano Ronaldo’s two goals helped his nation advance from Group J of qualifying with three games remaining.
The performance of Kostas Tsimikas will be closely watched by Liverpool supporters, as the left-back will be given more responsibility while Andy Robertson is out.
During Scotland’s 2-0 loss to Spain on Thursday night, Robertson dislocated his shoulder. Tsimikas made his claim for the vacated time with a standout first-half assist against Republic of Ireland.
Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, participated for an hour as his nation defeated Canada in a friendly match with a score of 4-1.
The 30-year-old started a beautiful sequence that ended with his team’s fourth goal of the game. Junior Hoilett’s goal in the closing seconds was the lone blemish.
