Yesterday four more Saints players featured for their respective national sides, with much more mixed success than Friday’s fixtures.
After four Southampton players came away victorious on Friday, expectations were high for the rest of the cast to follow suit over the course of Saturday afternoon and evening.
Wesley Hoedt was the only Saint to taste defeat on Friday, when his Dutch side were overturned by a slick and clinical France led by a trio of Antoine Griezmann, Thomas Lemar and Kylian Mbappe.
However yesterday only one Southampton player was on the winning side, with Dusan Tadic playing just over an hour as Serbia beat Moldova 3-0.
Much like in the league, Tadic wasn’t involved in any goal directly, but was influential as both Mijat Gaćinović and Aleksandar Kolorov scored before half time. With Tadic having been substituted, Newcastle’s Aleksander Mitrovic sealed what was a convincing win for the Serbs.
Next week Tadic could face off against his Southampton teammate Shane Long, who will go into the game off the back of a disappointing draw against Georgia. The Irish drew 1-1 after Shane Duffy initially gave them the lead. Long set up a glorious opportunity late on for James McClean, but the winger was unable to convert.
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Elsewhere Manolo Gabbiadini had a cameo role in Italy’s highly-publicized defeat at the hands of Spain. Back at their best, Spain were impressive with Isco dominating the encounter with a brace.
Gabbiadini only played ten minutes but had a chance to beat David de Gea, only for his effort to be saved.
Meanwhile Mario Lemina played the full 90 minutes in Gabon’s defeat at the hands of Ivory Coast.
The 24-year-old’s side needed to win to leapfrog Marc Wilmots’ side, sitting two points behind them with only the winner able to qualify for next year’s World Cup.