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Leicester City’s international break round-up: March

By Elliot Mackness

Lesotho's (2nd L) Lerotholi Nkau with Nigerian attacker Kelechi Iheanacho (2nd R) (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)
Lesotho's (2nd L) Lerotholi Nkau with Nigerian attacker Kelechi Iheanacho (2nd R) (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Leicester City
Jonny Evans of Northern Ireland (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images) /

Northern Ireland: the defensive composer

Jonny Evans made his 90th appearance for NI over the break, unfortunately marking it with a 2-0 loss to Italy. He did not feature in their friendly 2-1 defeat against the USA. He will get another chance to impress against Bulgaria 31/03/21.

It is difficult to judge a player’s individual performance during a defeat, when we know that the whole team struggled to perform to the standards necessary against a very tough Italian side. That being said, Evans did orchestrate the back line, leading them to minimise the number of opportunities, and was heavily let down by his partners.

Senegal: debutant Mendy!

Papy Mendy got his debut in a 0-0 draw against the Congo Republic. Mendy took on the Ndidi role as part of a DM-to-CM pivot, and performed as can be expected of a player of his calibre. He was strong in the tackle, and his passing was great.

The only constructive remark is that he was less involved in the game than he has been previously for the Foxes, where he could be expected to play the same role.

He also featured in their 1-1 draw against Eswatini. He was much more involved in this match, playing through the whole game. His performance was as energetic and impressive as previous performances for Leicester City this season.

Turkey: the ‘Haaland test’

Caglar Soyuncu was his usual self on international duty. Involved in three matches against the Netherlands (a 4-2 win), Norway (a 0-3 win), and Latvia (3-3 draw).

Soyuncu was exemplary. With defensive performances to make even the biggest clubs in England flustered over signing the Turk. For that matter, I do not think Soyuncu would leave a high-flying Foxes team for Liverpool FC.

From hard tackles, his usual playing through the high press, and his fairly neat passing, Soyuncu has games to remember. Expect more of this when he returns from duty. Let us also not forget that he scored a goal and kept Erling Haaland quiet, truly passing the Haaland test and showing that he is a better GOAT candidate!

The only caveat being an all-round poor performance against Latvia, where he received a yellow card and his team looked defensively rattled throughout.