March Internationals: Tau on target, Connolly injured, Moder subbed

In the name of the Lion of Judah, amen! Percy Tau was the star Brighton act in the first round of March international matches as he got on the scoresheet for South Africa in their 1-1 African Cup of Nations qualifying draw with Ghana.

Having barely featured since the Albion recalled him from Anderlecht in January, Tau showed no sign of rustiness in a lively performance which included his 51st minute equaliser to keep Bafana Bafana second in Group C.

Ghana were not at full strength and South Africa looked well poised to take advantage as they controlled the opening exchanges. If Tau thought swapping club football for international football would get him away from a team who do not take their chances, then he was to be sorely mistaken as Bafana Bafana did a passable impression of Brighton in the first half by missing several easy opportunities.

Tau was at the heart of most of their good play and should have had an assist when he fed the unmarked Thapelo Morena in the box but the full back could only hit the side netting.

Remarkably, that was the second such chance Morena had found himself with in the space of 30 minutes. If Graham Potter is after a new attack-minded full back, then Morena’s finishing would make him a perfect fit for the current xGulls.

South Africa were made to pay for their wastefulness when Ghana opened the scoring four minutes into the second half. Ajax playmaker Mohammed Kudus worked himself some space and beat Bafana goalkeeper Ronwen Williams with a powerful effort to make it 1-0.

The lead though lasted only two minutes. Ruzaigh Gamildien found Percy Tau in a slightly wide position in the box, from where the Lion of Judah hit a low ball across goal which bamboozled everybody to go straight in and level for South Africa

Was it a cross? Was it intentional? We will probably never know, but it was still a clever piece of play from Tau with his weaker right foot.

South Africa should have gone onto win the game from there but again their inability to score cost them dear. Tau’s probing runs caused Ghana all kinds of problems and from one such instance, he teed up the wonderfully named Innocent Maela whose effort was kept out by a brilliant stop from Razak Abalora.

Bafana Bafana round off their qualifying campaign on Sunday away against Sudan. A top two finish will see them qualify for the finals to be held in Gaetan Bong’s homeland of Cameroon.

Enjoying less of a good night than Percy Tau and South Africa was the Lion of Judah’s fellow Brighton striker Aaron Connolly. The 21-year-old had missed the Albion’s March matches with a ‘cracked rib’, conveniently occurring at the exact same time as the club had to carry out an investigation into his alleged lockdown-breaking behaviour of inviting a woman to spend the night with him.

Connolly had recovered sufficiently from the ‘injury’ to lead the line for the Republic of Ireland in their 3-2 defeat away in Serbia. There may not be a need to make up another fitness issue to explain Connolly’s absence when he returns from international duty – he hobbled off with a calf problem with 67 minutes played after suffering the effects of cramp inside an hour.

Whilst he was on the pitch, Connolly was at the centre of the most controversial moment of the game when he went down in the box under a challenge from Stefan Mitrovic with the scores locked at 1-1.

Republic boss Stephen Kenny was adamant it was a spot kick and bemoaned the lack of VAR. Bizarrely, the Republic’s game on Sunday against Luxembourg will use VAR.

Given the difference we know the technology makes, it does seem strange that two matches in the same competition can take place under different conditions in the space of four days.

Alan Brown had given Ireland an early lead, ending a goal drought of over 11 hours stretching back the entirety of Kelly’s reign so far. Dusan Vlahovic levelled five minutes before the break and after Connolly’s penalty appeals fell on deaf ears, two goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic put Serbia in control before James Collins’ late consolation.

Jayson Molumby also started for the Irish but Shane Duffy’s poor form at Celtic meant he had to settle for a place on the bench in Belgrade.

That decision seemed particularly odd as Kenny had spent the build up to the game singing Duffy’s praises and hailing him as a huge part of his Ireland team.

Jakub Moder did not complete the 90 minutes for Poland either although his early withdrawal was tactical in what turned out to be an extraordinary game away against Hungary in England’s World Cup Qualifying group.

Roland Sallai and Adam Szalai had Hungary 2-0 ahead on the 50 minute mark, at which point Poland had failed to have a single shot. Moder was subsequently hauled as part of a triple change from Poland boss Paulo Sousa made on 58 minutes, a decision which worked to a tee as two of substitutes hauled the visitors level within 180 seconds of their introduction.

Krzysztof Piatek pulled one back on 60 and Kamil Jozwiak made it Hungary 2-2 Poland on 61. Hungary retook the lead through Willi Orban with 12 minutes left to play, only for Robert Lewandowski to notch an 84th minute equaliser to round off a crazy match.

There were also six goals shared between the Netherlands and Turkey at Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium where the hosts pulled off a shock 4-2 win.

Former Crystal Palace boss Frank De Boer found out the hard way what happens when you leave Joel Veltman on the bench as Burak Yilmaz scored a hat-trick past former Brighton goalkeeper Tim Krul.

Leandro Trossard earned another cap for Belgium as a 93rd minute substitute for Dries Mertins as the Red Devils beat Wales 3-1. On target were Kevin De Bruyne, Thorgan Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, a reminder that Trossard does pretty well to get into an international setup with such talent.

Last but by no means least, Andi Zeqiri played the full 90 minutes as Switzerland Under 21s beat England 1-0 in their opening game of the European Under 21 Championship group stages.

Because of the chaos caused by the pandemic, the group stages are being played in the current international break with the knockout rounds to follow in the summer.

Dan Ndoye scored the only goal of the game late on for Switzerland. Zeqiri nearly notched himself, a combination of a weak finish and a decent save from England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale keeping his effort out.

The Three Lions now face an uphill task to qualify for the quarter finals, which is hardly a surprise given that Aidy Boothroyd somehow remains in charge; having the finest young talents in the country managed by Boothroyd is like having the bloke who runs Cheeky Chicken giving out advice on MasterChef: The Professionals.