AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola welcomed back a host of players from international duty as his squad stepped up preparations for a return to Premier League action.
The Cherries, who face Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday, had no fewer than 14 players representing their respective countries, with 13 getting game time.
Iraola and his coaching staff put the players through their paces during an intense training session at Vitality Stadium on Friday ahead of setting off for South Yorkshire.
Wales trio Chris Mepham, David Brooks and Kieffer Moore, together with Ukraine defender Illia Zabarnyi, were back after discovering their opponents in the Euro 2024 play-off semi-finals.
Rob Page’s team, who were held to draws by Armenia and Turkey in their final two qualifiers, will host Finland at Cardiff City Stadium on 21st March 2024.
And Ukraine, who finished third in their group after being held by Italy in their last qualifier, will travel to Bosnia-Herzegovina on the same date.
The winner of the Wales/Finland clash will earn a home tie against either Poland or Estonia, while Ukraine or Bosnia-Herzegovina will entertain either Israel or Iceland, the games taking place on 26th March.
Milos Kerkez returned having helped Hungary secure a place in the finals, as did Ryan Christie who came off the bench in Scotland’s 3-3 draw with Norway on Sunday, Steve Clarke’s team having already qualified.
Mark Travers was back with the Cherries goalkeepers having earned his fourth cap for Republic of Ireland in their 1-1 draw with New Zealand in a friendly in Dublin, the 24-year-old introduced as a second-half substitute on Tuesday.
He was joined by Andrei Radu who was on the bench for Romania’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Israel and Switzerland, wins in both games seeing them through.
Dango Ouattara followed up his appearance against Guinea-Bissau by scoring for Burkina Faso in a 3-0 win against Ethiopia in a World Cup 2026 qualifier, while Hamed Traorè, who netted twice for Ivory Coast in a 9-0 win against Seychelles, started their 2-0 triumph over Gambia.
Antoine Semenyo started both games as Ghana beat Madagascar and lost to Comoros, while Luis Sinisterra came off the bench for Colombia in a 2-1 win over Brazil and was an unused substitute in a 1-0 victory against Paraguay.
Development squad midfielder Nathan Moriah-Welsh took centre stage when he scored a stunning free-kick from inside his own half for Guyana in their 6-0 win over Antigua & Barbuda in the CONCACAF Nations League.
Sheer brilliance from @nmoriahwelsh 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/GAJ2jjCJS1
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) November 22, 2023
And teammate Owen Bevan, who is currently on loan at Cheltenham Town, started twice for Wales under-21s as they defeated Iceland 1-0 and lost 2-1 to Denmark.
Click through the arrows above to see a gallery of pictures from the Cherries’ training session on Friday.
