The regular season is over. Before the Champions’ Play-offs begin, the players had a week without a match. However, that wasn’t the case for all the Sportingboys. Discover here which players were called up for their national teams and how they performed on their international duty.
César Huerta was called up to the Mexican national team and played in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-final against Canada on Friday, March 21. “Chino” came on around the 30th minute and helped secure a 2-0 victory against the Canadians. In the final on Sunday night, Panama – missing former Anderlecht player Amir Murillo due to a hamstring injury – was also defeated 2-1. Huerta – who started the match and was substituted after 65 minutes – was able to celebrate.
Goals by Goto
For Jan-Carlo Simić (Serbia), a double clash with Austria awaited in the Nations League. In the first leg – where our young central defender played for 20 minutes – the match ended 1-1. In the return leg in Serbia, the home side sealed a 2-0 victory. Senegal, with Moussa Ndiaye remaining on the bench twice, drew 0-0 in Sudan and won 2-0 at home against Togo.
Three Mauves players were also called up for youth national teams. Keisuke Goto (Japan) and Ali Maamar (Morocco) joined their respective U20 squads. Goto scored twice in a friendly against France, leading Japan to a 3-1 victory. Against the USA (1-1), our Japanese striker started but was substituted at halftime. Lucas Hey (U21) traveled with Denmark’s U21 team to Poland (0-0) and Italy (1-1) but remained on the bench.
Mauves with Morocco
Coach Mohamed Ouahbi, who led Anderlecht’s U21 side to the UEFA Youth League Final Four in the 2014-2015 season, called up Ali Maamar, Elyess Dao, and Ismaël Baouf for Morocco’s U20 team. Against Ghana (1-0 win), Baouf played the entire match. In the 2-0 victory against Sierra Leone, Maamar played all 90 minutes. In the third friendly against Ghana, Baouf opened the scoring, setting his team on the path to a 4-1 win.
Decisive De Cat
Among the RSCA Futures squad, several players were also called up for international duty. Four players joined Belgium’s U19 team: Käis Barry, Lilian Vergeylen, Basile Vroninks, and Ludovick Wola-Wetshay. In Norway, the young Red Devils won 2-0, with Barry and Vroninks playing the full match. In Serbia (1-1), Wola-Wetshay and Vergeylen played 90 minutes, while Vroninks came on in the first half. On Tuesday, Belgium’s U19s defeated Israel 3-2, with Wola-Wetshay and Barry starting, and Vergeylen and Vroninks coming on – the latter providing the assist for the winning goal.
Nunzio Engwanda played two friendlies with Belgium’s U18s against Italy. He started the first match (0-1 loss) and came on as a substitute in the second (1-1). In the U17s, Nathan De Cat and Gassimou Sylla were called up for the Euro qualifiers. Against Ireland (1-0 win), De Cat played the full match, while Sylla came on as a substitute. Against Iceland (2-1 win), Nathan started again and scored the winning goal. In Poland (2-2), Sylla started, and De Cat once again made the difference with a goal for the young Devils, who are now officially qualified for this year’s Euro.
