Football: Review 12 players on international duty

12 players from Benfica took part in official and/or friendly matches playing for their respective national teams. At a time when they're already back at the club, we'll take stock.

RÚBEN DIAS, RAFA, PIZZI, AND FERRO

For Portugal, Rúben Dias played every minute, being an option from Fernando Santos in the two matches (Serbia, 2-4 and Lithuania, 1-5). Rafa and Pizzi played in the second match, being that Benfica's number 27 jersey came on at 56’ to assist, 10 minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo for the 2-1. Pizzi came off the bench at 89’ and Ferro –for the first time in the senior national team – was in the substitutes' bench in the second match of the European Champions.

ADEL TAARABT

One of the biggest highlights goes to Adel Taarabt. After playing the last 28 minutes in the friendly match against Burkina Faso (1-1), in a match that marked his return to Morocco national team after five year of absence, Adel Taarabt, in another friendly match, this time against Niger (a 1-0 win for Morocco 1-0), was not only a starter but also wore the captain's armband. He came off at 76' applauded by the public.

ODYSSEAS AND SAMARIS

In Greece, Odysseas and Samaris were called up, but only the midfielder played. He played the 90 minutes in the 1-all draw (1-1) at home against Liechtenstein.

SEFEROVIC

Seferovic was also a starter,but for Switzerland, in a match for Group D of the Qualification for the Euro 2020. After the match in Dublin, against the Republic of Ireland (1-1), the striker ended up being dismissed by the coach Petkovic in order to be able to attend, in Lisbon, the birth of the first child.

SVILAR

Mile Svilar made his debut with Belgium U-21. The reds' goalkeeper was a starter in the matches against Wales (1-0 loss) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (0-0) of the qualification for the Euro 2021.

JOTA, NUNO TAVARES, AND NUNO SANTOS

In the same category, but in Portugal, the Portuguese national team played twice in the start of the qualification for the 2021 European Championship Slovenia/Hungary. In the trashing of Gibraltar by 4-0, Rui Jorge fielded Nuno Santos at half-time, when Portugal was already winning by 2-0. In the second match, against Belarus (2-0), the three players from Benfica featured in the starting XI: Jota, Nuno Tavares, and Nuno Santos.