Leeds United mixed fortunes as pair hit international goals and defender gets 67-minute debut
Leeds United players experienced mixed fortunes on a busy day of international action on Friday with goals, an injury and a 67-minute debut.
Isaac Schmidt was handed his full international debut, for Switzerland, which comes before he’s made a league start for his club. Signed as a ‘young and interesting’ prospect according to Daniel Farke, Schmidt has been regarded as more of an attacking player than a defender at Leeds but took the right-back slot for his country in Belfast against Northern Ireland on Friday night.
The Leeds man had little in the way of significant involvement in the first half but did get forward a number of times to make runs and support attacks. And in the final action of the half the full-back popped up on the left side of the area to break in behind the home defence and create a half chance with a low cross.
Huddersfield Town’s Brodie Spencer had to be sharp to deny Schmidt a chance to grab his first international goal seven minutes after the interval as a dangerous cross found him at the back stick, the Northern Ireland man just getting a block in at the last second. Schmidt’s debut came to an end with 23 minutes remaining and the score locked at 1-1.
Earlier in the day there were mixed fortunes for the Whites on the international stage. The day’s big talking point was the sight of Willy Gnonto limping off before the break in Italy Under 21s’ game against Netherlands. The winger appeared to hurt his ankle or foot attempting to make a challenge five minutes before the interval and failed to run off the problem, leading to his replacement in the last minute of the half.
Under 21s prospect Diogo Monteiro grabbed a goal for Portugal Under 20s in their 1-1 draw with an England Under 20s side that included Leeds’ out-on-loan midfielder Darko Gyabi. And first team squad player Mateo Joseph was also on target, scoring Spain Under 21s’ first goal in their game against Czech Republic.