Several Liverpool players were in action for their countries on Friday and Saturday during the international break.
After a brilliant start to the season at club level, 16 Reds have jetted off to join up with their senior international sides.
Some were playing on Thursday, with the Argentine press happy with Alexis Mac Allister who got a goal against Chile.
Andy Robertson fared less well for Scotland, while Conor Bradley was hailed after another good display for Northern Ireland.
Saturday morning saw the turn of Alisson Becker, and the Liverpool goalkeeper had every right to be happy with his performance for Brazil.
Alisson ‘the difference’ for Brazil
Alisson has not always had the best time of things for his national team. While he did win a Copa America with the Selecao in 2019, Liverpool’s No.1 has not always been guaranteed a starting spot.
New manager Dorival Junior appears to be a fan of Alisson, though, and has started him in each of the last six matches.
The latest of these came on Saturday morning, with Brazil facing a crucial game against Ecuador in Coritiba.
The Selecao had not started World Cup qualification well, winning just two of their opening six matches. Thankfully for Dorival Junior, they got the victory on Friday, beating the Ecuadorians 1-0.
READ MORE: Andy Robertson shares why he’s spotted Alisson Becker looking ‘happy’ this season
Alisson played the full 90 minutes of the match, keeping a fourth clean sheet in a row. In 360 minutes of football for club and country this season, the 31-year-old is yet to concede.
And according to GOAL, Alisson was absolutely key to his team winning the game.
Scoring the £67m ‘keeper with an eight out of 10, they claim that Alisson made a ‘brilliant save’ in the first-half and was ‘the difference’ between one point and three for Brazil.
Brazilian outlet Globo are not quite as full of praise, however. Handing Alisson as six out of 10 rating, they claim the Liverpool man was ‘practically untested’ and actually even had to be saved by Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes, who made a vital block on the line.
Who else played on Friday?
Alisson was far from the only Liverpool player to feature for his country in the last 24 hours.
Luis Diaz starred for Colombia, grabbing a late equaliser for Los Cafeteros away in Peru. That’s three goals in two games now for Lucho.
Ibrahima Konate played the full 90 minutes for France against Italy on Friday, although the centre-back saw his team beaten 3-1 on the night.
Meanwhile, Lewis Koumas came off the bench to play 20 minutes or so for Wales in a 0-0 draw with Turkey and Mohamed Salah captained Egypt to a 3-0 win over Cape Verde.
Saturday sees more Liverpool players take to the field, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dominik Szoboszlai, Caoimhin Kelleher, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch and Kostas Tsimikas all likely to play. Giorgi Mamardashvili’s Georgia are also in action.
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