Internationals: van Persie Double, Ramsey, Bendtner & More

Arsenal’s International stars were in action for their respective countries tonight and it was the International Friendlies that became the main talking point of the evening.

Here at Gooner Talk, we look to bring you the latest updates and results on how the Arsenal players are doing for their countries with a brief summary of how they got on.

The following Gunners stars were in action tonight:

Samir Nasri, William Gallas, Gael Clichy and Mikael Silvestre – France v Uruguay
Robin van Persie – Netherlands v Sweden
Cesc Fabregas – Spain v Chile
Johan Djourou – Greece v Switzerland
Lukasz Fabianski – Ireland v Poland
Nicklas Bendtner – Denmark v Wales
Emmanuel Adebayor – Togo v Rwanda
Aaron Ramsey – Denmark v Wales
Kolo Toure – Israel v Ivory Coast
Alex Song – South Africa v Cameroon
Carlos Vela – Honduras v Mexico

Samir Nasri, William Gallas, Gael Clichy and Mikael Silvestre – France 0-0 Uruguay

France was jeered off the field after a dull 0-0 draw with Uruguay in a friendly match Wednesday.

France failed to create many chances, and the best opportunity fell to Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka, who headed just over from Franck Ribery’s free kick in the 17th minute.

Uruguay missed its best chance moments later when an error from Philippe Mexes almost gifted the visitors a goal.

Mexes failed to clear the ball and instead passed it straight to Cristian Rodriguez, who shot wide from 12 meters (yards). Ajax striker Luis Suarez then went close in the 31st with a spectacular effort.

France captain Patrick Vieira played in his first international match in nine months, but was replaced at halftime.

William Gallas played the full 90 minutes and stood firm against the tough Uruguyan attack. Samir Nasri came on with 15 minutes to go.

Robin van Persie – Netherlands 3-1 Sweden

Robin Van Persie scored two goals Wednesday to give the injury-depleted Netherlands a comfortable 3-1 win over Sweden in an international friendly.

Wesley Sneijder took a short corner and then exchanged passes with Ryan Babel on the left flank before crossing for Van Persie, who put the Netherlands in front with a header in the 33rd minute.

Van Persie scored his second in the 48th, beating Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson from 15 meters (yards) after he was played in by substitute Rafael van der Vaart.

Kim Kallstrom pulled one back for Sweden in the 50th, scoring from the edge of the box, but Dirk Kuyt headed in Tim de Cler’s cross in injury time to wrap up the win.

A fantastic performance from Robin van Persie. Two well taken goals that should leave him in good stead for Saturday’s game against Man City.

Johan Djourou – Switzerland 1-0 Finland

A wonder goal by defender Reto Ziegler with just six minutes of play to go sent the Swiss national football team to a year-ending victory over Finland on Wednesday night.

Ziegler’s was the only goal in the friendly watched by 11,500 spectators in St Gallen.

The player from Italian club Sampdoria took advantage after a free kick by Hakan Yakin bounced off the Finnish wall late in the game. Ziegler picked up the rebound and his effort from 25 metres flew into the net.

The Swiss team dominated the first half in a game that saw fluid play interrupted by frequent substitutions.

For coach Ottmar Hitzfeld and the rest of the players, the victory helps to wrap the season up on a high note after a humiliating loss to Luxembourg in September.

Johan Djourou started and confirmed his defensive nouse with a superb role at the back, keeping out most of Finland’s attacking threat.

Lukasz Fabianski – Ireland 2-3 Poland

Giovanni Trapattoni tasted defeat for the first time as Republic of Ireland boss despite a remarkable late fightback against Poland.

Leo Beenhakker’s Poland side looked to be heading for a comfortable victory at Croke Park when substitute Roger Guerreiro added a 47th-minute second goal to skipper Mariusz Lewandowski’s early opener.

But having earlier seen midfielder Damien Duff pass up three glorious opportunities, Ireland belatedly discovered their touch in front of goal to set up a tense finish.

Substitute Stephen Hunt reduced the deficit with an 88th-minute penalty, and after Robert Lewandowski had restored his side’s two-goal advantage, fellow newcomer Keith Andrews marked his senior international debut with an injury-time strike.

Arsenal’s number 2 Lukasz Fabianski played the full 90 and was unlucky to concede two late Ireland goals. Despite that, he’ll come away feeling fairly happy with a strong performance between the sticks

Nicklas Bendtner (Denmark) & Aaron Ramsey (Wales) – Denmark 0-1 Wales

Craig Bellamy returned to the Danish capital to secure another victory 10 years after his first goal for his country also produced a famous win in Copenhagen.

This time Bellamy netted his 16th for his country and took his tally ahead of the legendary John Charles, and the Wales skipper is now equal fifth top scorer in his country’s history alongside Mark Hughes and Cliff Jones.

This was the night 17-year-old Aaron Ramsey was to be the centre of attention, and the Arsenal youngster certainly did well on his international debut.

But it was Bellamy, the oldest Welshman on the pitch, who eventually stole the show.

He had missed a couple of golden opportunities in the first half, but 13 minutes from time a fine run and drive secured victory as he led his side of young stars to victory.

Nicklas Bendtner wasted several chances in this game, mostly down to Wales’ last-ditch defending. Aaron Ramsey was quietly impressive and created some great chances, not a bad run-out for his country.

Kolo Toure – Israel 2-2 Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast dominated the possession for the majority of their encounter with Israel, but was mostly held at bay by the Israel defense, which made sure Chelsea stars Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou had a quiet game.

It took 18 minutes for Israel to register the first chance of the match and Barda made it count.

Yossi Benayoun stole the ball at the center of the field and laid it off perfectly for the Genk striker, who blasted his shot into the near corner.

Six minutes later, another Benayoun assist set up Golan for Israel’s second.

Sanogo blasted the ball beyond substitute ‘keeper Liran Shtrauber to the disappointment of the 27,000 fans hoping for an Israel victory.

Kolo Toure played with a calf injury and is now a massive doubt for some of Arsenal’s upcoming games in both the Premier League and Champions League.

Cesc Fabregas – Spain 3-0 Chile

David Villa, Fernando Torres and Santi Cazorla scored for Spain to beat Chile 3-0 in a friendly on Wednesday and cap the European champion’s greatest season.

Top-ranked Spain extended its two-year unbeaten streak to 28 games. It also stayed unbeaten against Chile, winning six out of seven matches.

Villa’s 37th-minute penalty saw him become the first Spanish player to score in five straight games and take his international tally to 24 goals from 41 appearances, surpassing Alfredo di Stefano to move to fifth in Spain’s all-time scoring list.

Torres used a quick move in the 67th to get free and score with a low shot. Cazorla then found the net with a deflected shot that skipped past goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in the 86th.

Midfield maestro Cesc Fabregas played the full 90 minutes and did reasonably well against a rugged Chile side. He is also missing for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Man City due to a suspension.

Alex Song – South Africa 3-2 Cameroon

Bernard Parker scored his fourth goal in as many matches for South Africa to help the 2010 World Cup hosts defeat Cameroon 3-2 in the Nelson Mandela Challenge on Wednesday.

Parker finished off an 82nd-minute raid at Olympia Park when Cameroon goalkeeper Carlos Kameni was unable to hold on to a fierce strike from Thulasizwe Mbuyane, and the home side survived the final minutes for a fourth consecutive win under coach Joel Santana.

It was also the third win in four matches for South Africa over the continent’s top-ranked side.
Cameroonian midfielder Alex Song got a whole 90 minutes under his belt and protected the back four decently for the majority of the game.

Carlos Vela – Honduras 1-0 Mexico

Honduras was gifted an own-goal in beating Mexico 1-0 as both teams advanced to next year’s final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.

Mexico defender Ricardo Osorio diverted a corner from Honduras defender Danilo Turcios into his own net in the 52nd minute.

Honduras hasn’t lost to Mexico at home for 20 years.

Vela was sent off in the dying minutes and found the game largely frustrating due to limited chances.

Emmanuel Adebayor – Togo 1-0 Rwanda

A Floyd Ayite goal after 33 minutes proved decisive for the West Africans who are seeded in one of the toughest groups of the 2010 CAN/World Cup final qualifying round.

Togo is drawn alongside 2004 African champions Cameroon, Morocco and Gabon in Group A.

Most of the attention before the game was on Arsenal hit-man Emmanuel Adebayor, who has become the new icon of Togolese football after netting 11 goals in 2006 to guide the Sparrow hawks to their first ever World Cup in 2006 (Germany).

The unfit striker, initially doubtful for the clash was given a huge roar of approval from his home crowd but failed to live up to the billing after a quiet 45 minutes on the field.

Emmanuel Adebayor also got booked, and despite playing with a thigh injury, did create several decent opportunties.