Sandro Tonali joy, Bruno Guimaraes frustration & squad withdrawal as Newcastle United head to Saudi Arabia

Newcastle have 10 first-team representatives on international duty this month while the rest of Eddie Howe’s squad spends the weekend in Saudi Arabia for warm weather training. Defender Emil Krafth had to withdraw from the Sweden squad due to a broken collar bone.

Alexander Isak is currently away with the Sweden squad, who have had a disruptive week after their training session in Spain was cancelled due to the weather. Sweden face Martin Dubravka’s Slovakia and Azerbaijan in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday and Tuesday respectively.

After playing Sweden, Dubravka and Slovakia host Estonia on Tuesday.

Watch Geordie Journos on Shots: Reaction to three wins in a row for Newcastle United

18-year-old midfielder Lewis Miley has been called up to the England Under-21s squad for the first time as they play friendly matches against Spain on Friday and the Netherlands on Monday.

Isaac Hayden isn’t part of Newcastle’s 25-man Premier League squad but came off the bench at half-time to make his international debut for Jamaica in a 1-0 CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final defeat to the United States in Kingston.

But here’s how Newcastle’s first-team players who were in action fared on Thursday night.

Sandro Tonali (Italy)

Tonali scored his first senior international goal as Italy beat Belgium 1-0 to secure a place in the Nations League quarter-finals. It was his first competitive goal since his Newcastle Premier League debut against Aston Villa in August 2023.

Italy host France in their final group stage game on Sunday.

Anthony Gordon, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento (England)

Anthony Gordon started once again for England and Lewis Hall came off the bench at half-time for his senior debut as The Three Lions beat Greece 3-0 in Athens. Tino Livramento was an unused substitute as he still waits for his first cap.

The result puts England top of their Nations League Group heading into the final match against Republic of Ireland on Sunday.

Odysseas Vlachodimos (Greece)

It was a night to forget for the Newcastle goalkeeper and Greece as Ollie Watkins scored past him early on before Jude Bellingham’s strike rebounded back off him and into the net to double England’s lead. Curtis Jones completed the convincing 3-0 victory late on with a back-heeled finish.

Greece travel to Finland on Sunday needing to better England’s result against Ireland in order to guarantee promotion.

Bruno Guimaraes (Brazil)

Guimaraes started for Brazil in a 1-1 draw away to Venezuela as their faltering qualifying campaign continued. Raphinha opened the scoring for Brazil before Telasco Segovia equalised early in the second half for Venezuela, who finished the game with 10 men.

Despite the result, Brazil sit third in their 10-nation qualifying group, five points clear of Venezuela in seventh - the inter-confederation play-off position.

Next up for Brazil is Uruguay on Tuesday.

Miguel Almiron (Paraguay)

Almiron started once again for his country against Argentina on Thursday night as they claimed a stunning 2-1 victory over the world champions. Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring for Argentina before a stunning bicycle kick from Antonio Sanabria drew the hosts level. Early in the second half, Omar Alderete headed in from a free-kick to complete the turnaround.

Next up for Paraguay is a notoriously difficult trip to Bolivia on Tuesday night at high altitude.