Clarets International-Who Did What?

Cameroon beat Togo 3-0 in Yaounde yesterday in an African Group A World Cup qualifying match but Andre Bikey did not feature and was not even named on the bench. The result though means that Cameroon are now favourites to qualify for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa keeping a Clarets connection in the competition alive. Cameroon are currently top of their Group A table already one point ahead of second place Gabon. The Group will be decided on 14th November when Cameroon will play bottom club, Morocco away in their final match. A win would ensure their qualification and only the top side qualifies for the World Cup.

Steven Fletcher was another Claret on international duty and he was named on the bench for Scotland’s friendly match against Japan in Yokohama. He came on for the second half replacing Miller and came close to breaking the deadlock. Chasing towards goal though, he was denied a shooting opportunity after Kawashima, the Japanese keeper came out to dive at his feet before he could pull the trigger. It was heartbreak time again though for Scotland when Japan got two goals in the last ten minutes; nothing less than they deserved having dominated play against Scotland’s makeshift side for most of the match.

An important game for the Scotland Under 21 side also took place yesterday. They had a UEFA Under 21 Championship qualifying match against Belarus at St Mirren Park

Two Clarets players had been named in the squad by Billy Stark. Brian Easton was named on the bench but didn’t feature whilst Kevin McDonald played the whole game.

McDonald almost broke the deadlock, heading just wide of the post in the first half with Scotland looking in command and dictating the midfield.

The second half was rather a scrappy affair and despite the Scots dominance, the game looked to be heading for a frustrating 0-0 draw

A goal though by substitute Jamie Murphy two minutes into added time gave Scotland all three points and a share of first place in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 10 table.

Scotland U21 now have nine points from four games, level at the top of the section with Austria. Previous leaders, Belarus are now three points behind the Scots with a game in hand. Scotland go to Azerbaijan next on 14 November, while Belarus host Albania this Wednesday.