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This entirely frivolous and questionably intentioned international break (which may yet have wider repercussions depending on the next couple rounds of COVID-19 testing), ended on a rather wholesome note as a youthful England side dominated Iceland at Wembley on Wednesday, winning 4-0 in what was a dead rubber match in the Nations League. (Belgium had already secured top spot in the group, and also beat Andreas Christensen’s Denmark 4-2 yesterday.)
Mason Mount, deployed alongside Declan Rice in central midfield (but a similar role as he’s been playing recently at Chelsea), and supporting a front-three that included both Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, got one of the goals, just a few minutes after BFF Declan opened the scoring.
Afterwards, the once and future Chelsea duo gave a smile-inducing interview, which does show that despite all my cynicism, there is some meaning and value in these international wastes of time exercises.
❤️ | From being best friends at eight-years-old to starting together for England and getting on the scoresheet!
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) November 18, 2020
This post-match interview from Mason Mount and Declan Rice is some really wholesome content... pic.twitter.com/QqLQ0GaWza
Foden’s brace in the last ten minutes made the scoreline reflective of England’s dominance, by which time Iceland had been reduced to 10 men, and Tammy Abraham had also made an appearance, replacing Harry Kane for the final 15 minutes.
And in even better news, Ben Chilwell did NOT play. Halle-Gareth-lujah.
One other note worthy of mention from this game was that one Sveinn Aron Guðjohnsen, 22, was named to the matchday squad for the Iceland senior team for the first time in his career. (He had been with the U21s earlier in this break.) If that name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the (oldest) son of former Chelsea dreamboat Eidur Guðjohnsen. He’s sure to become the third generation of Guðjohnsens to represent Iceland. Pretty cool!
Anyone remember when Eidur Gudjohnsen came off the bench to replace his dad for Iceland?
— Henry Moeran (@henrymoeranBBC) November 18, 2020
Tonight Eidur’s son Sveinn Gudjohnsen is in the squad to play against England.
And I feel very old. pic.twitter.com/aDhamv89ye
Elsewhere, Emerson and Jorginho continued their runs in the Italy team as they beat Bosnia 2-0 to finish top of their group in the Nations League, while Ethan Ampadu also got another cap as Wales beat Finland, 3-1, and will thus play in League A the next time these glorified friendlies roll around.
That won’t be for a while, and fortunately, we won’t have to deal with internationals at all for the next four months at least.