Mat stars as Danes take control

IT has been a busy international break for a number of Town players who have represented their countries.

Centre-half Mathias Zanka starred in Denmark’s 2-0 victory over Ryan Giggs’ Wales as the Danes put out a full strength team after senior players boycotted Wednesday’s 3-0 friendly defeat in Slovakia over a commercial rights dispute.

Denmark were in control from the moment Eriksen opened the scoring after 32 minutes with a low drive which went in off a post.

And Eriksen made it 15 goals in his past 18 international appearances with a 63rdminute penalty after Ethan Ampadu had handled Viktor Fischer’s cross.

“Our style of play in between the lines suits Christian a lot,” said Denmark manager Age Hareide.

“There’s a different positioning in the offensive play in our team to Tottenham’s and we are always looking for him in and around the box.

“I didn’t think in the first half we had the rhythm, but it could have been that Wales was good too.

“We found the rhythm better in the second half and we are used to playing tight matches.

“We did well in World Cup qualification playing tight matches, and it was clear that our legs were fresher than Welsh legs later in the game.”

The Danes now top their group on goal difference ahead of Wales and Republic of Ireland. Steve Mounié earned his eighth cap for Benin in a African Cup of Nations qualifier against Togo.

His side drew 0-0 with Togo and currently sit second in the group, behind Algeria on goal difference.

There were also a number of Town players in U21 action.

Jon Gorenc Stankovic got another 90 minutes under his belt as his country Slovenia’s U21 side drew 0-0 with Kazakhstan in a qualifier for the 2019 UEFA European U21 Championship.

The centre-back, who made his Premier League debut last month and scored against Manchester City, could face Kazakhstan again in the return match at home tonight.

In-form Phil Billing played for Denmark U21s in a European Championship qualifier against Finland, which the Danes won 2-0 and he could now also feature against Lithuania tonight.

Winger Isaac Mbenza also played a full 90 minutes as the Belgium U21s defeated Malta 4-0 in a qualifier ahead of their next game, again tonight, against Hungary.