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Wednesday, 7 September 2011

International Focus: Taylor impresses and Jazz's U21 squad suffer defeat


The second game of the September international break saw seven Swansea players called up for international duty with five of the seven completing 90 minutes on the field.

Wales' senior squad were unlucky to not gain a point against England at Wembley and the U21 squad suffered a 3-1 defeat after a second half assault away to Montenegro. The final fixture featuring talent from South Wales was in Helsinki, where Holland secured qualification against Iceland.

Neil Taylor gave a very confident, impressive performance in the game against England at Wembley. The 21 year old full back provided width, attacking intent and rarely put a misplaced pass. He coped very well with the onslaught from the English, but was out of position when Stewart Downing was allowed space in the lead up to the only goal in the match. Ashley Williams also featured in the match and put in a strong performance, keeping tight on the opposition and suppressing the threat effectively. Joe Allen was the final Swans player to feature in the Welsh squad but was forced to watch from the bench, even in spite of the exclusions of David Vaughan and Craig Bellamy due to suspension. Read more about my thoughts on Joe Allen's lack of chances in the Wales squad here.

Another player who was on the bench for the duration was our penalty killer, Michel Vorm. The Holland number 2 saw his team guarantee qualification to Euro 2012 after a 2-0 victory against Iceland. With qualification already secured, Holland coach Bert van Marwijk may give Vorm a chance to stake his claim to the number 1 jersey in their final fixture against Moldova and Sweden next month.

Finally in the U21 squad, Jazz Richards captained his country in Montenegro as Brian Flynn's team lost 3-1 to the The Brave Falcons (never knew Montenegro had a nickname!). Daniel Alfei and Lee Lucas also featured in the game.

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