The international break saw seven Leeds players answer the calls of their respective countries.

Davide Somma was an unused substitute on his birthday in South Africa’s tie against Egypt. Bafana Bafana fans were desperately calling for his introduction but he didn’t make it onto the pitch. Max Gradel and Neil Kilkenny were also unused subs for Ivory Coast and Australia respectively while Ramon Nunez sat on the bench in Honduras’ first game as they went down against South Korea but did feature in their 3-0 loss to China.

Loan man Eric Lichaj wasn’t named in the match day squad for USA’s friendly draw against Argentina but did come off the bench for the last half an hour in their 1-0 loss against Paraguay. Lichaj almost set up the equaliser as one of his trademark long throws found Landon Donovan whose volley clipped the outside of the post and went wide.

Another loan man, Lichaj’s Aston Villa team mate, Barry Bannan played just over half an hour in Scotland’s friendly against Brazil. He added an extra bite and urgency to the midfield and had a free-kick on target though in truth it barely tested Julio Cesar in the Brazil goal. Robert Snodgrass also featured in the match, coming on just after Scotland had gone two goals down. He played just under fifteen minutes but didn’t really have much chance to make an impact.

It has been a while since we’ve had so many players on international duty and Ken Bates was quick to give his verdict on the international friendlies at this time of year. He branded them “meaningless” and “money-making exercises”. So far it seems like our international players have come through the break unscathed and should now be focussing on our domestic promotion push.