As you might expect, it was a mixed bag for the Middlesbrough players who represented their respective countries during the international break.
Of those in action, Hayden Hackney impressed with a cultured display on his England Under 21 debut, whilst young academy starlet, Fin Cartwright put in an accomplished performance for England’s Under 17 side against Morocco.
The 16-year-old has already had a season to remember, coming on for Middlesbrough against Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup and setting the record of becoming Boro’s youngest ever player at 16 years and 161 days old. He continued his rapid progression on Saturday as he represented an England Under 17 team, gaining an assist and nearly bagging a goal for himself in a 1-1 draw against Morrocco.
The match report featured on the England Football website said,
“England took the lead midway through the first half following some good work by Middlesbrough’s Finlay Cartwright. The midfielder gathered the ball on the edge of the box and performed a neat step-over before reaching the byline and pulling the ball back for Elliot Myles, leaving the Norwich City youngster with an easy finish.
Cartwright then went close himself soon after as he had a left-footed volley pushed away by Morocco goalkeeper Akabou Ayoube low down to his right.”
The game was the second match of a three game series, with Cartwright not involved in the first. He did start the third game against Spain, where the young Lions roared to a 4-1 victory. It rounded off an impressive time away with the national side for Cartwright, who again showed flashes of why he has become such a coveted asset.
Chelsea interest
Cartwright has caught the attention of many, not just proud Boro fans. Some of football’s big hitters have seemingly honed in on his progression, with transfer guru Fabrizio Romano putting out a tweet in April, suggesting that Chelsea were keen to acquire the services of the midfielder.
It was a mature performance from the player who had previously chosen to play for Scotland in a game that also featured another Boro academy graduate in Nathan Wood-Gordon, son of ex-Boro full-back Dean Gordon. The fact that Hackney looked so at home in a young Lions team that had a host of Premier League players from some of the biggest clubs, with the likes of Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis and Harvey Elliott, shows how far Boro’s number 7 has come.
More disappointment for Paddy
Elsewhere, it was a disappointing time for Northern Ireland international Paddy McNair. He played the full 90 minutes in both matches as they fell 4-2 to Slovenia, and then 1-0 to Kazakhstan. The game against Slovenia saw former Boro striker give McNair and his teammates the runaround in a stirring display that saw him net twice.
It was the fifth straight qualifying defeat for Michael O’Neill’s side, he did mention McNair in his post-match interview reported in The Guardian, saying,
“For a lot of those lads, it’s always nicer to come into international football for the first time and you’re winning games, it’s always easier to come into a team that’s doing well.
“I reflect back to the lead-in to Euro 2016 and you had the likes of Stuart Dallas and Paddy McNair come into the team and we were always going well. It’s always an easier process. Now we’re trying to introduce players into a team when the results are not so good so it’s more challenging for the players.”
Game time for Aussie pair
Three Middlesbrough players received the call to play for Australia against Mexico in a friendly. Tom Glover, Sami Silvera and World Cup participant Riley McGree, all made the trip, with McGree playing the whole game and Silvera getting 16 minutes game time in an entertaining match that finished 2-2.
Rav van den Berg played for a Netherlands Under 21 side that kept a clean sheet whilst convincingly beating Moldova 3-0 and also played the full 90 in the following 2-0 win over North Macedonia. You could point to the opposition, but the clean sheets will serve as a good source of confidence for the 18-year-old.
Darragh Lenihan was an unused substitute as the Republic of Ireland lost 2-0 to France and did not make the squad for the subsequent 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands with injury keeping him out.
Law McCabe will have been disappointed to be part of an England Under 18 squad that suffered 2-0 at the hands of France and then a heavy 4-0 pounding against Japan. Forward McCabe played 15 minutes against France and 70 minutes versus Japan. He was an unused substitute in their final game against Portugal, where they lost 2-1.
Seny Dieng was a substitute for Senegal’s 1-0 defeat to Algeria, with former Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy the number one choice.