National Teams

Francesco Caputo was thrilled to finally pull on an Italy shirt at the age 33 but there was also a tinge of regret at what might have been after a career spent largely in the lower divisions of Italian football.

The Sassuolo forward became Italy's second-oldest debutant when he started Wednesday's friendly against Moldova and needed only 23 minutes to score his first international goal in the 6-0 win.

Olivier Giroud became France's second top scorer when he netted a double to take his international tally to 42 goals as the world champions crushed an injury and COVID-19-ravaged Ukraine 7-1 in a friendly in a near-empty Stade de France on Wednesday.

Giroud, who celebrated winning his 100th cap, found the back of the net twice in the second half to move within nine goals of Thierry Henry's French scoring record. The Chelsea striker leapfrogged Michel Platini, who scored 41 goals from 72 games between 1976-87. 

Mexico has gone into the empty belly of the beast and defeated the Netherlands 1-0 at Johan Cruijff ArenA. The game’s only goal — a penalty converted by Raúl Jiménez — was fortunate in that Jiménez was offside before the foul that led to the spot kick, but Mexico’s play in defense, midfield and attack was superior to the Dutch’s over the course of 90 minutes in Amsterdam.

Here are my five key takeaways after watching Wednesday’s match on ESPN2.    

#1. Tecatito is fun as hell.

When Spain and Portugal meet today in a friendly at Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal, it’ll mark the first meeting between the Iberian rivals since that legendary 3-3 draw during the group stage of the 2018 World Cup.

The match will also be a direct contest between Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain captain Sergio Ramos, who spent nine years together at Real Madrid while winning two league titles and four Champions League crowns. 

Ukraine have included 45-year-old retired goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy in the squad for Wednesday's friendly against France after three other keepers tested positive for COVID-19, the country's football federation (UAF) said.

Shovkovskiy, who retired in 2016 and has made 92 appearances for Ukraine, is currently assistant to head coach Andriy Shevchenko.

German prosecutors and tax authorities searched offices of the German Football Association (DFB) as well as private homes of current and former officials on suspicion of serious tax evasion, the Frankfurt prosecutors' office said on Wednesday.

It said six unnamed former and current officials of the DFB were suspected of having intentionally falsely declared income from advertising in soccer stadiums during home games of the national team in 2014 and 2015 as income from asset management, leading to $5.5 million in unpaid taxes.

France coach Didier Deschamps has praised Olivier Giroud's mental toughness and high standards of professionalism as he confirmed the striker will start in Wednesday's friendly against Ukraine to claim his 100th cap for the national team.

Giroud will become the eighth player to join France's exclusive club of centurions alongside Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry, Marcel Desailly, Hugo Lloris, Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira and Les Bleus boss Deschamps.

New Netherlands manager Frank de Boer will have a tough job over the next fortnight trying to convince the doubters he is the right man to lead the national team after Ronald Koeman.

De Boer, 50, took over last month from Koeman, who left to join Barcelona, and will make his debut on Wednesday when the Dutch host Mexico in a friendly followed by two Nations League games away to Bosnia on Sunday and Italy three days later.

MADRID — Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traoré was named in the Spain squad by coach Luis Enrique on Friday, three days after also being called up by Mali.

Traoré, who was born in Barcelona to Malian parents, has been at the center of a tug-of-war between the two federations over the past 18 months.

He can still represent either nation as he has not yet played senior international football.

The winger was selected by Luis Enrique for last month's fixtures against Germany and Ukraine, but was forced to withdraw from the squad following a positive COVID-19 test.