International duty: Nations league round up | OneFootball

Thursday night saw the first of the two legged ties in the quarter-finals and the promotion/relegation play-offs of the UEFA Nations League, with a couple of Spurs players in action, whilst some others were sidelined, so let's take a look at how their sides got on with and without their men from N17.

Pedro Porro started and played the full 90 minutes in Rotterdam last night as they drew with the Netherlands at De Kuip, the home of Feyenoord. The current European champions got off to a flying start when they pressed high up the pitch and caught out the Dutch left back, before Pedri set up former Spurs target from last year, Nico Williams. Williams was also the scorer of the opener in last summer's Euros final in Berlin, proving he can step up for the big occasion, and you can see why Ange Postecoglou had him on his radar.

The Dutch would come from behind to lead the game, with an equaliser from Liverpool winger Cody Gakpo, assisted by another Premier League player, the in form Justin Kluivert, and then within a minute of the second half AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders would cooly slot home from just outside the box into the bottom corner. Spain however would find a reply and end up taking a draw back to Valencia for the second leg when Arsenal (disgraceful, I know) midfielder/makeshift striker Mikel Merino would tap in from extremely close range so La Roja earned a draw. The Netherlands did have to play the last ten minutes or so with ten men after Jorrel Hato was sent off for a late challenge. 2-2 the final score.

With the Netherlands conceding two goals themselves you could say they missed centre half Micky van de Ven, who in all fairness to Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman rightfully didn't call him up due to only just returning from injury, but it is definitely something to think about in regards to how important he is to his national side.

Destiny Udogie and Guglielmo Vicario were on duty with Italy as they went head to head with Germany in Milan at the San Siro. Udogie started and played the full 90 in a wing back role as the Azzurri played a traditional three at the back system, but Vicario played no part in the game, as he has a very difficult task to be the number one ahead of established Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Italy started the game really well when Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali opened the scoring, just days after winning the Carabao Cup with his club. Unfortunately for Udogie and Vicario, 'Die Mannschaft' would turn the game around in the second half with goals from Tim Kleindienst and Leon Goretzka, both being provided by Bayern Munich right-back/centre midfielder Joshua Kimmich. So the Germans will take a 2-1 advantage back to the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund for Sunday's second leg, so it will be an uphill battle for the two Spurs boys if they want to progress to the semi-finals.

Kevin Danso pulled out of Austria's squad after he sustained a minor hamstring injury just before the international break, so he wasn't able to play in their promotion/relegation game with Serbia in Vienna, as they aim to get promoted from League B to League A. 'Das Burschen' would draw the match 1-1 and failed to make home advantage count before Sunday's second leg in Belgrade.

Just as a bonus, it was a fantastic evening for some former Spurs players in the form of Ivan Perisic and the legendary midfielder Luka Modric, as they were part of the Croatia team that beat France 2-0 in Split. After the 2018 world cup runners-up missed an early penalty, they would score twice before half time, with Perisic having a hand in both goals, assisting the first and scoring the second. He would be replaced on 70 minutes by Nikola Vlasic. Captain Modric would complete the full 90, which at 39 years old is just incredible.