In what has proved a hugely important international break, two Southampton stars have secured vital wins for their respective countries.
After a sub-par performance against a rampant France, Wesley Hoedt and his Netherlands side secured all three points in a must-win game against the Bulgarians.
Southampton’s new defender played the full 90 in the heart of defence, as fellow Premier League new boy Davy Propper scored a brace to help the Dutch to a 3-1 win.
Arjen Robben was also among the goals as he scored his 34th international strike – taking him past the late Johan Cruyff in his country’s all-time leading goal-scorers.
Hoedt’s hopes of reaching the 2018 World Cup are still alive with the 3-1 win, but they will likely have to qualify as group runner’s-up. Ahead of them are Sweden – who sit three points above them with a crunch match against the Dutch next month.
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Meanwhile Cedric Soares and his Portugal side have all-but qualified for the World Cup in Russia, having guaranteed themselves at least a play-off finish following their victory over Hungary.
Young AC Milan striker Andre Silva scored early on in what would prove to be the winning goal, in what was a much quieter affair that the 5-1 drubbing of the Faroe Islands on Friday.
Portugal remain three points between Switzerland – who have a perfect record of eight wins from eight and 24 points. On October 10th the two sides will face off, and with the former’s superior goal difference, the ball will be firmly in Ronaldo and co.’s court.
Breel Embolo and Admir Mehmedi were on target when the two teams met in the reverse fixture just over a year ago – the result still stands as Portugal’s only loss throughout qualification.
Five Southampton players – two of which are youngsters – could feature tonight for their respective sides, as the international break rolls on.