Erik ten Hag bid farewell to 14 members of Manchester United’s senior squad across the international break, while one academy youngster also went globetrotting with his country.
Several stars caught the eye for good reasons, although the spotlight is largely on one of United’s summer signings, who endured a nightmare break with his country.
Here’s how United’s players got on during the September international break.
Onana was treated to a hero’s welcome when he landed in Uganda for Cameroon‘s 0-0 draw with Zimbabwe, getting mobbed by local fans who were screaming for a photo.
It was the second of two clean sheets for Onana, who also kept Namibia out earlier in the break.
We haven’t seen a lot of Bayindir since his move to United, which hasn’t helped his quest for more minutes at international level with Turkiye.
Two more games passed with the goalkeeper glued to the bench.
This wasn’t a fun international break for De Ligt. He started both of the Netherlands‘ games but left camp under more pressure than when he arrived.
A 5-2 win over Bosnia saw De Ligt make two costly errors which led to goals, before another two mistakes saw him hooked at half-time as Germany netted twice in an eventual 2-2 draw.
Lee Carsley brought Maguire back into the England setup after his Euro 2024 snub and immediately started the centre-back against the Republic of Ireland.
With rotation the order of business, Maguire went unused in the 2-0 win over Finland.
It was a mixed bag for Martinez with Argentina. He started at centre-back in a comfortable 3-0 win over Chile, but caught the eye for the wrong reasons just a few days later.
Shifting over to left-back, Martinez put on an uncomfortable showing and even lost his man for Colombia’s opener in a 2-1 defeat.
Making just his second international appearance of 2024, Mazraoui played 90 minutes for Morocco in a comfortable 4-1 win over Gabon.
He went unused during the following meeting with Lesotho as Achraf Hakimi returned to the lineup.
Dalot needed just seven minutes to open the scoring for Portugal in an impressive 2-1 win over Croatia.
His reward was a rest against Scotland, coming off the bench for the final 14 minutes to aid a search for what would end up being a winning goal.
Mainoo remains a part of the England setup under Carsley and started the 2-0 win over Ireland, putting on the sort of composed and classy performance we’ve come to expect of him.
He sat out the victory over Finland, watching on as former Red Devil Angel Gomes stole the show in his absence.
Many United fans tuned in for their first glimpse of Ugarte, who will hope to make his United debut this weekend after returning from Uruguay duty.
Two 0-0 draws against Paraguay and Venezuela hardly made for entertaining viewing, but Ugarte undoubtedly caught the eye with two dominant showings at the base of midfield, even though he was playing through a minor illness.
Eriksen has made no secret of his desire for more minutes at club level, but he has no such issue with Denmark.
He managed two more starts, both of which lasted over an hour, as Denmark roared to 2-0 wins over Switzerland and Serbia.
17-year-old midfielder Scanlon may not be a household name among most United fans, but he is already a popular figure with Gibraltar.
Scanlon started a friendly victory over Andorra before scoring his first international goal in the 97th minute against Liechtenstein, who had the last laugh with an equaliser in the 14th minute of stoppage time.
A typically productive break for Fernandes, who grabbed an assist in Portugal‘s 2-1 win over Croatia before scoring against Scotland.
He got the win against former teammate Scott McTominay, who actually headed Scotland ahead early on before a Fernandes-inspired comeback.
Back in the Ivory Coast squad for the first time since March 2023, Amad started in a central attacking midfield role in a 2-0 win over Zambia, putting on another impressive performance.
The winger had to settle for a substitute role against Chad, managing to make a decent impact in 29 minutes.
Despite his importance at club level, Garnacho is on the fringes of the Argentina squad and managed just 11 minutes across two matches.
He did, however, find the time to grab an assist in a 3-0 win over Chile.
After making his international debut at Euro 2024, Zirkzee earned his first start for the Netherlands in the 5-2 win over Bosnia, catching the eye with a goal and an assist.
Zirkzee went unused in the draw with Germany but may have come out from the game with his stock even higher, with many local fans voicing their frustration towards Ronald Koeman’s decision to bench him.
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