{"id":1494,"date":"2026-04-01T18:58:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1494"},"modified":"2026-04-01T18:58:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:58:56","slug":"mikel-arteta-take-note-how-many-minutes-each-arsenal-star-played-over-the-international-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1494","title":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta, take note: How many minutes each Arsenal star played over the international break"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>At a Glance:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Arsenal had 13 players away on international duty this week.<\/li>\n<li>While some returned home early with injury concerns, others made major impacts.<\/li>\n<li>Noni Madueke appears to be the only serious casualty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p><strong>The international break has concluded, and the majority of Arsenal\u2019s squad return to London Colney unscathed, as Mikel Arteta\u2019s side prepare to take on their most important run-in for several years.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Gunners sit nine points clear at the top of the Premier League with seven games left to play, while they remain in contention for both the Champions League and the FA Cup. Thus, it was imperative that Arteta\u2019s international stars returned from their respective national team camps in one piece.<\/p>\n<p>Ten Arsenal players withdrew from international duty, although it\u2019s understood that many of these withdrawals were precautionary. That said, Noni Madueke appears to have sustained a genuine injury whilst playing for England that will keep him out for a couple of matches at the very least.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, here\u2019s a look at every Arsenal player who featured for their country over the past week, and how many minutes they played \u2013 this will likely inform Arteta\u2019s team selection for the upcoming Southampton and Sporting CP matches.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Riccardo Calafiori (Italy) \u2013 210 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Riccardo Calafiori had an eventful international break to say the least. After Italy failed to top their qualifying group, they were thrust into the World Cup qualification play-offs.<\/p>\n<p>The defender was instrumental in Italy\u2019s victory over Northern Ireland in the semi-final, before a disastrous final against Bosnia and Herzegovina \u2013 that went to penalties \u2013 saw the European giants fail to qualify for football\u2019s showpiece international tournament for the third time in a row.<\/p>\n<p>Calafiori played every minute across both games, which will certainly worry Arteta given the player\u2019s fitness track record.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Riccardo Calafiori will get a break this summer as he will not be at the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Italy are out. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Tb7HJV4mLP\">pic.twitter.com\/Tb7HJV4mLP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 now.arsenal (@now_arsenaI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/now_arsenaI\/status\/2039094417621979495?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 31, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Viktor Gyokeres (Sweden) \u2013 180 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Viktor Gyokeres enjoyed an outstanding international break. Like Calafiori, the striker had meaningful matches to play for his country, with Sweden vying for a place at this summer\u2019s tournament in North America.<\/p>\n<p>First, Gyokeres scored a hat-trick against Ukraine, before netting the winning goal in the 88th minute of the qualification final against Poland on Tuesday night. The 27-year-old also played every minute, and may now need to be rested against Southampton.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"eu\" dir=\"ltr\">Aura \ud83e\udef1\ud83e\udef2 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yKqyyKJUfM\">pic.twitter.com\/yKqyyKJUfM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Swedish Football (@svenskfotboll) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/svenskfotboll\/status\/2039102569448944082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 31, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Myles Lewis-Skelly (England U21s) \u2013 180 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>While in an ideal world Arteta probably wouldn\u2019t have Gyokeres and Calafiori featuring so prominently for their nations, the Spaniard was likely happy to see Myles Lewis-Skelly get some minutes into his legs.<\/p>\n<p>Playing for the England under-21s for the first time, Lewis-Skelly was excellent across both games, although he stood out with a monstrous display against Moldova on Tuesday. Involved in the creation of two goals for Ethan Nwaneri at Carrow Road, the level looked somewhat beneath the 19-year-old left-back.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Max Dowman (England U19s) \u2013 159 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>While there was talk of Max Dowman being named in Thomas Tuchel\u2019s senior squad, this was never likely to materialise, and instead, he was kept grounded by being utilised in the under-19s.<\/p>\n<p>Featuring against both Serbia and Portugal, Dowman lit up the latter fixture. Scoring a stunning goal that involved running with the ball from the halfway line, he also registered two assists.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s in line to feature against Southampton after Madueke\u2019s injury, and Arteta will therefore be delighted that the wonderkid was brought off early in both of these international games.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Christian Norgaard (Denmark) \u2013 147 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Like both Calafiori and Gyokeres, Christian Norgaard was involved in World Cup qualification play-offs over the international break. The midfielder played as a centre-back across both of Denmark\u2019s games, starting in their 4-0 victory over North Macedonia, whilst coming on as a substitute in the final against Czechia.<\/p>\n<p>He played 87 minutes in the first game before playing 60 minutes of the Czechia clash, which went to penalties. The former Brentford man won\u2019t be going to the World Cup, after Denmark lost the shootout in Prague.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Kai Havertz (Germany) \u2013 108 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Kai Havertz has been struggling with injury issues throughout this season, and thus, it was important that he got some minutes for Germany to build his fitness ahead of the run-in.<\/p>\n<p>Julian Nagelsmann used the forward for 63 minutes in a 4-3 thriller against Switzerland, before playing him on the right wing against Ghana. The former Chelsea man scored a penalty on the stroke of half-time against the Black Stars, before being substituted at the break.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udca3 \ud835\udc11\ud835\udc04\ud835\udc02\ud835\udc0e\ud835\udc11\ud835\udc03: \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea<\/p>\n<p>Kai Havertz&#8217;s penalty sums \u2192 his 21st senior international goal (56 caps). <\/p>\n<p>Reliable from the spot (career 92%+ conversion rate) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4u1a5vgAZi\">pic.twitter.com\/4u1a5vgAZi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Topskills Sports UK (@topskillsportuk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/topskillsportuk\/status\/2038727532502213000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cristhian Mosquera (Spain) \u2013 97 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Cristhian Mosquera earned his first call-up to the senior Spain squad this month. He left the Euro 2024 winners\u2019 camp having impressed, making waves amongst Luis de la Fuente\u2019s coaching team.<\/p>\n<p>Managing a seven-minute cameo against Serbia, he then performed excellently across 90 minutes in Spain\u2019s 0-0 draw with Egypt on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gabriel Martinelli (Brazil) \u2013 85 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Gabriel Martinelli was deployed on the right for much of his 62-minute showing for Brazil against France. He then scored in his short cameo off the bench against Croatia, netting his fourth international goal in added time against the European outfit.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ben White (England) \u2013 80 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Ben White made his controversial return to the England fold this month. Called up to replace the injured Jarrel Quansah, his international renaissance caused quite the stir. <\/p>\n<p>After being introduced in the 69th minute against Uruguay on Thursday, White was met with a chorus of boos inside Wembley Stadium. Just 12 minutes later, he scored his first goal for the Three Lions.<\/p>\n<p>Starting against Japan, White then received a more mixed reception when he was hooked at the hour mark.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 Ben White has been called-up to the England squad for the first time since leaving 2022 World Cup early, after Jarell Quansah withdrew due to injury. \u2705\ud83e\udd81 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4A98Cbs335\">pic.twitter.com\/4A98Cbs335<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DailyAFC\/status\/2036045155719897568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 23, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Piero Hincapie (Ecuador) \u2013 72 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Piero Hincapie started for Ecuador against Morocco in Madrid, but lasted just 72 minutes before he was forced off injured. He subsequently returned to North London and is now a doubt for the Southampton clash.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">David Raya (Spain) \u2013 62 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>De La Fuente still favours Unai Simon as Spain\u2019s number one, so the last week was largely a training exercise for David Raya. That said, he was given a rare opportunity to play for his country against Egypt, although he was taken off for Joan Garcia in the 62nd minute.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Noni Madueke (England) \u2013 38 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>Noni Madueke lasted just 38 minutes of England\u2019s game against Uruguay before a collision inside the South American nation\u2019s penalty box brought his game to an end. He returned to London Colney following this incident.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Martin Zubimendi (Spain) \u2013 13 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>With Rodri back, Martin Zubimendi\u2019s place in Spain\u2019s starting eleven isn\u2019t quite as certain. He was granted 13 minutes off the bench against Serbia before he left La Roja\u2019s camp as a precautionary measure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At a Glance: Arsenal had 13 players away on international duty this week. While some returned home early with injury concerns, others made major impacts. Noni Madueke appears to be the only serious casualty. The international break has concluded, and the majority of Arsenal\u2019s squad return to London Colney unscathed, as Mikel Arteta\u2019s side prepare [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}