Otamendi, Kaboré and Pavlidis start for their national teams

Otamendi, Kaboré and Pavlidis, players from Benfica's professional football team, were starters in their respective national teams' matches on Thursday, November 14.

The last Eagles player to take part in this round of international matches was captain Otamendi, who was included in the starting line-up - he played the full 90 minutes - that Argentina fielded in their visit to Paraguay (kick-off was scheduled for 11:30 pm), on matchday 11 of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.  The match resulted in a defeat for the Albiceleste (2-1), who will compete again next Wednesday (0:00), November 20, when they host Peru in Buenos Aires.

Issa Kaboré, meanwhile, was part of the eleven and played all the minutes in Burkina Faso's 0-1 defeat against Senegal on matchday 5 of Group L qualifying for the African Cup of Nations (2025), played in Bamako (Mali). With qualification for the tournament already secured, the Benfica full-back's team will return to the field on Monday, November 18, against Malawi in Lilongué, in the final match of the qualifying phase.

In Europe, chosen for Greece's starting eleven, Pavlidis was replaced in the 56th minute by Giannoulis in the home defeat against England (0-3) on Matchday 5 of Group B2 of the Nations League. The Benfica forward has a new game for the Hellenic team on Sunday, November 17: a visit to Finland, in the last round of the group.