Clean sheets galore

Fonte

 

  • FIFA World Cup qualifying victories for Jose Fonte and Edimilson Fernandes
  • Darren Randolph, Fonte, Josh Cullen and Reece Oxford all kept clean sheets for their respective sides
  • Oxford celebrated helping England qualify for UEFA European U19 Championship finals

West Ham United's internationals have enjoyed a productive few days, with Darren Randolph, Jose Fonte, Josh Cullen and Reece Oxford all keeping clean sheets for their respective sides.

On Friday, Oxford kicked things off by helping England U19s qualify for the UEFA European U19 Championship finals by beating Spain 3-0 at St George's Park. Having beaten Norway by the same scoreline in their opening Elite Round qualifier, England know they will go to Georgia in the summer, whatever the result against Belarus on Monday.

Later on Friday, Martin Samuelsen appeared as a substitute as Norway U21s were beaten 3-1 by Portugal in a friendly.

Randolph then kept a clean sheet as Republic of Ireland drew 0-0 with ten-man Wales in Dublin in FIFA World Cup qualifying. Both sides remain unbeaten in Group D, but Ireland have eleven points to Wales' seven and the nations side second and third respectively. James Collins was an unused substitute for Chris Coleman's side.

On Saturday, Declan Rice and Cullen were both in action for Ireland's age-group sides in the afternoon, with different results. Rice's U19s had beaten Italy 2-0 in their opening Elite Round qualifier, but lost 3-0 to Sweden. They will need to beat Belgium on Tuesday evening and hope Sweden do not beat Italy to join England at the final tournament.

Cullen captained Ireland's U21s to a 1-0 victory over Kosovo in Dublin in their own opening UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier - and the first-ever in Kosovo's history.

Finally on Saturday, after Edimilson Fernandes watched Switzerland defeat Latvia 1-0 in World Cup qualifying, Jose Fonte played the full 90 minutes for Portugal as Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in a 3-0 victory over Hungary in Lisbon.

Slaven Bilic will hope the Hammers' band of internationals will bring the confidence drawn from a successful weekend back to Rush Green ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to Hull City.