Archive
Young Stars In International Action
Written by Newcastle Utd
Newcastle United youngsters Davide Santon, Haris Vuckic and Lee Toland all make international appearances on Thursday night
By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Journalist
Some of Newcastle's brightest young talents were on show for their respective countries on Thursday night.
Davide Santon captained Italy Under 21s to a 7-2 victory away in Liechtenstein, which maintained their 100 per cent record in Group Seven of the Euro 2013 qualifiers.
The full-back, signed from Inter Milan at the end of August, played 74 minutes for the Azzurrini, and that will be a big boost to United manager Alan Pardew, as the 20-year-old is yet to kick a ball for the first team having suffered a slight knee injury shortly after his arrival. Santon was, however, an unused substitute at Wolves last weekend.
Haris Vuckic was a half-time replacement for Slovenia Under 21s as they drew 1-1 in Sweden in Group Two. The 19-year-old broke his hand while playing for Newcastle against Fulham almost six weeks ago, but made his playing comeback on Thursday.
Vuckic replaced captain Rajko Rep and played a key role in helping Slovenia come from behind to salvage a late draw.
Goalkeeper Ole Soderberg, currently on loan at Darlington, was part of the Sweden squad, but was not named in the starting line-up or on the bench.
Academy youngster Lee Toland was an 89th minute substitute for Northern Ireland Under 19s in their opening UEFA 2012 Under 19 Group Seven qualifier Coleraine. However, Northern Ireland were on the wrong end of a 5-1 scoreline.