Albert Makes U.S. History – Kobel Extends His Streak

A total of 20 Borussia Dortmund first team players are currently on international duty and have recently celebrated numerous victories with their national teams. On Monday evening, two BVB defenders were once again very successful with their respective teams.

What a week for Mathis Albert! After the teenager made his international debut for the U.S. last Sunday, the forward went one better on Tuesday evening (local time): In the U.S. friendly against Chile at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri, Albert came on as a substitute in the 71st minute. In stoppage time, the BVB player then scored the much-celebrated goal that sealed a 4-2 victory for his team.

At the age of 17 years, four months, and eight days, he became the youngest goal scorer in U.S. international soccer history! Incidentally, with his record-breaking goal, Mathis Albert surpassed a certain Christian Pulisic, who became the youngest U.S. goal scorer in 2016 and was also under contract with Borussia Dortmund at the time. Albert has now beaten that age record by 122 days.

Kobel Keeps Another Clean Sheet

Gregor Kobel seems unbeatable right now. The BVB goalkeeper, who most recently kept clean sheets in the Bundesliga against Paderborn (3-0) and Stuttgart (1-0), kept another clean sheet in the second group stage match of the UEFA Nations League.

In his Swiss national team’s convincing 3-0 victory over Scotland, Kobel didn’t have too much to do. The Swiss played with a man advantage starting in the 11th minute after Scotland’s Jack Hendry was shown a red card and conceded virtually nothing defensively. As a result, Gregor Kobel enjoyed a relaxed evening and, at the same time, recorded his fourth consecutive competitive match without conceding a goal. Switzerland’s next match is at home against Slovenia on 3 October.

Meanwhile, BVB prospect Enzo dos Santos suffered a crushing defeat. The 17-year-old and his Luxembourg national team lost 0-3 to Iceland. Dos Santos came on as a substitute midway through the second half, making his sixth senior international appearance.

The Algerian national team entered their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Burundi as heavy favorites. After a disastrous start to the match, Algeria—with Ramy Bensebaini once again starting at center back—found themselves trailing 0–2. In the end, the North Africans managed to salvage a 2–2 draw, thereby at least defending their top spot in the qualifying group.

Bensebaini’s defensive partner from Dortmund—Joane Gadou—fared better. The BVB summer signing played for the French U21 national team in their European Championship qualifier in Estonia on Tuesday evening. He played the full 90 minutes in the Équipe Tricolore’s comfortable 2-0 away victory, picking up a yellow card in the first half.

Svensson's Sweden Keeps the Points at Home

Daniel Svensson has long since established himself as a starting fullback on the Swedish national team. On Monday evening, he once again played the full 90 minutes for the Scandinavians in their second UEFA Nations League group stage match, as they faced Poland in front of a home crowd in Solna.

Sweden put on a strong performance, just as they had three days earlier against Romania (2-1), and secured a 3-1 victory thanks to an improved showing in the second half. Although Daniel Svensson and the team conceded a goal before halftime, he was, as usual, hard-working and covered a lot of ground at right back. Among other things, he won 71 percent of his tackles.

Kaua Prates celebrates with the U-20 Selecao

Meanwhile, Kaua Prates was once again in action for the Brazilian U-20 national team. The 18-year-old was in the Selecao’s starting lineup for the friendly against the Danish U-20s and played for about an hour as a center back. With Brazil leading 3–1 at halftime, the young BVB defender was substituted midway through the second half; Brazil ultimately defeated the Danes 4–1.

Samuele Inacio is currently with the Italian senior national team. On Monday, however, he was not included in head coach Roberto Mancini’s matchday roster for Italy’s convincing 4-1 away victory over Turkey in the Nations League.