Southampton: Hojbjerg, Yoshida, Danso and Obafemi round off Saints senior internationals for October

Four Southampton senior players rounded off their international schedules for October on Tuesday night.

Each of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Maya Yoshida, Kevin Danso and Michael Obafemi played for their respective national sides but had mixed fortunes in their games.

Hojbjerg played the full 90 minutes as Denmark claimed a routine win over Luxembourg in a friendly.

Playing alongside fellow Premier League stars Kasper Schmeichel and Christian Eriksen, the Saints captain contributed to an eventual 4-0 victory.

Goals from Martin Braithwaite and Christian Gytkjaer and a brace from Kasper Dolberg completed the scoring for the Danes who also sit in a strong position in their Euro 2020 Qualifying Group D.

Maya Yoshida also played the full game as Japan won convincingly in their World Cup Qualifier against Tajikistan earlier.

This puts Japan top of their Asia Qualifying Group by three points and they will be confident of confirming their place in Qatar in 2022 once their qualification games are complete.

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Two goals from striker Takumi Minamino early in the second-half put them in a comfortable position in today’s contest, and their victory was rounded off by a third from Takuma Asano after 82 minutes.

Yoshida remains a vitally important presence in defence for his country and he will pick up his 100th international cap when he steps onto the field for Japan again during the next international break.

It proved to be a tough evening for Kevin Danso as he played for Austria Under-21s against England in Milton Keynes.

He captained his side and played the full 90 minutes, but a strong and highly talented England side proved too strong for his side and condemned them to a 5-1 defeat.

A hat-trick from Arsenal man Eddie Nketiah and a brace from Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi completed the hosts scoring, whilst Austria could only reply with a solitary strike from Christoph Baumgartner.

Saints striker Michael Obafemi was also in action today as the Republic of Ireland’s Under-21s fell to a 1-0 defeat to Iceland.

The 19-year-old started in attack but saw Iceland take the lead in the 29th minute and was then withdrawn with 15 minutes of the game remaining.