The 15 Brentford players earned a total of 15 caps during six days of international football over the past week. There were 18 Brentford players – First Team and B Team – called up in total with three – Marcus Forss, David Titov and Luka Racic – unable to link up with their countries. There were qualification games, debuts, goals and three players in one tournament as Brentford made its mark on the international scene.
Four players were called up for full international duty, but only one got on to the pitch. Henrik Dalsgaard played for Denmark in the second of two qualification games for the 2020 UEFA European Championships. He played the full 90 minutes as Denmark drew 0-0 with Georgia on Monday night after not being involved in a win over Gibraltar last Thursday.
Henrik earned his 22nd cap in the game and his 18th while at Brentford. He is second on the list of the Club’s most-capped players and is closing in on John Buttigieg, who won 20 caps for Malta while at Griffin Park. Pontus Jansson was away with Sweden for two qualification games but was on the bench as they beat Faroe Islands and drew with Norway. Saïd Benrahma was also an unused substitute as Algeria beat Benin and Kamohelo Mokotjo went away with South Africa but their proposed friendly games were called off.
There were seven players involved in qualification games for 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championships with mixed results. Ellery Balcombe was on the bench twice for England as they beat Turkey and Kosovo. Halil Dervişoğlu, who will join Brentford from Sparta Rotterdam in January, played for Turkey in the first game, which England won 3-2.
Patrik Gunnarsson played in both games as Iceland Under-21 beat Luxembourg and Armenia. B Team midfield player Jaakko Oksanen was not involved as Finland beat Ukraine but did come on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland on Tuesday while his team mate Nick Tsaroulla came off the bench as Cyprus Under-21 lost to Norway but sat out a defeat to Netherlands on Tuesday.
B Team defender Cole Dasilva was away with Wales Under-21 but did not play as they beat Belgium and lost to Germany. Meanwhile Mads Roerslev Rasmussen and Denmark also played a qualifier against Romania on Tuesday and won 2-1. They had been involved in a 0-0 friendly draw against Hungary on Friday. Mads played 45 minutes in the friendly but did not feature against Romania.
Bryan Mbeumo made his France Under-21 debut in a friendly against Albania last Thursday. He came off the bench and was involved in two goals in a 4-0 win and started the following game, against Czech Republic. This time Bryan scored one and made one as France won 3-1 to announce himself at Under-21 level.
Four more players were involved in Under-19 internationals. Jan Žambůrek played as Czech Republic lost to Switzerland and then drew with Belgium while three more players were involved in a tournament. Joe Adams, with Wales, Gustav Mogensen, with Denmark, and Simon Andersson, with Sweden, played in the Under-19 Nordic Friendship tournament.
Joe and Gustav both played as Denmark and Wales drew 3-3 with Denmark winning a sudden-death penalty shoot-out. Simon and Sweden were also involved in a shoot-out and the Brentford B goalkeeper saved two spot kicks as his team beat Norway after a 0-0 draw. Simon then sat out as Denmark beat Sweden in the final. Joe played as Wales drew 2-2 with Norway in the third-placed match but his team were beaten on penalties.