From John Mousinho’s Portsmouth squad, five players travelled from PO4 to represent their countries at international level during this most recent break.
Terry Devlin, Gustavo Caballero, Makenzie Kirk, Adrian Segecic and Millenic Alli were all called up for their nations, with three of these players enjoying their first ever international call-ups, but how have they performed during the break?
The Northern-Irishman has arguably been player of the season for Portsmouth so far, putting in commanding performances which have clearly been acknowledged by Blackburn Rovers and Northern Ireland boss, Michael O’Neil.
The right-back, who is currently second highest scorer for Portsmouth this campaign with five goals, has featured in both of Northern Ireland’s international matches during the break.
In the world-cup-qualifier against Italy, Northern Ireland fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the 2020 Euros winners. Devlin, played 68 minutes before he was subbed off for Queen’s Park Rangers‘ Paul Smyth who so recently tormented Portsmouth in their 6-1 defeat.
In his time on the pitch though, Terry Devlin was one of Northern Ireland’s best performing players, noted by the fact that the defensive rock won 100% of his aerial duels whilst proving vital through various crucial clearances and interceptions against a very strong Italy side.
Northern Ireland’s friendly against Wales culminated in what was ultimately a frustrating stalemate, despite this though it was a very positive fixture for Terry Devlin who earned the ‘EE fan vote player of the match award.’
Terry Devlin, once again, won 100% of his aerial duels during the fixture whilst also proving influential offensively, creating one big chance within the game from right-wing-back.
As Devlin looks to create more competition with Liverpool’s Conor Bradley for that full-back position in Micheal O’Neil’s side, during the 148 minutes he played during the break the 22 year old definitely showed signs of promise that both his nation and Portsmouth can look forward to see flourish in the future.
Since joining on loan from Brazlian giants Santos in the January transfer window the winger has shown some real sings of promise for Portsmouth, yet it is his inconsistency and sometimes volatile nature that has let him down.
The two fixtures that the 24-year-old has played during his maiden international break have epitomised the erratic flaws to his performances though, with the two games he played being the antithesis of one another.
In what was the explosive winger’s international debut at first team level, Caballero came under mixed reviews by fans of the national team as Paraguay claimed a 1-0 victory against Ivan Jovanovic’s Greece.
Paraguayan fans on social media quickly got on Caballero’s back after he was substituted on for Newcastle United cult hero Miguel Almiron in the 68th minute.
Some labelled him “just a roadrunner” who “has good speed but lacks intelligence” whilst other more positive opinions of the winger compared him to “Almiron in his early days.”
This seems to sum up the winger’s clear talent but sometimes difficulty in execution that Pompey fans have seen lately, exemplified by his technically brilliant goal against Millwall in February.
Caballero’s second appearance for La Albirroja would come against a Morocco side unbeaten in 25 games and would prove much more successful individually than his maiden game against Greece.
Despite his tough debut, Caballero proved his doubters wrong in Paraguay’s friendly against Morocco in which he came on as a substitute in the 69th minute, once again for Miguel Almiron.
The Pompey winger showed his capabilities as he headed home from around the six-yard-box into the bottom right hand corner from a perfectly weighted Juan Jose Caceres cross in the 88th minute (watch here), although his goal would lack influence come the final whistle as Paraguay lost the game 2-1.
Regardless of this though, in his time away from PO4, Caballero has very much proved his irrefutable ability, epitomised by his 100% dribble success rate and 100% shot accuracy rate during his short stint on the pitch against Morocco, capped off by a well place finish.
Since he joined Portsmouth on deadline day of the summer window from Scottish outfit St Johnstone, Makenzie Kirk has been in and out of Portsmouth’s XI.
The striker has played 11 games and scored once against high-flying Coventry City and is often forced to settle for a place on the bench despite Colby Bishop’s struggles in front of goal.
Away from PO4 though, Kirk represented Northern Ireland at under 21 level in the recent international break where he faced Germany U-21’s and Latvia U-21’s in the U21 Euro qualification race.
The Northern Ireland team unfortunately fell to a 3-0 defeat with Kirk starting as number nine against what is undoubtedly a very solid German outfit at this level featuring players like Brighton and Hove Albion’s Brajan Gruda who is currently on loan at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
In what was a much more successful match for Northern Ireland in which they came out 3-1 winners, Kirk also enjoyed a much more positive performance in which he scored the equaliser for his side to spark the come-back that now sees Northern Ireland’s U-21 side third in the qualification table.
The top scorer in this Portsmouth side, with six goals to his name this campaign, only announced his decision to change international allegiances from Australia to Croatia on the 13th of March.
Since then, he has already made his way into the Croatia U-21 lineup.
In what was a hugely eventful fixture which saw Croatia storm to a 3-0 home victory, two Turkiye players get sent off and the Turkiye manager get taken to hospital after hitting his head whilst protesting the decisions of the referee, Adrian Segecic certainly had an impact.
It was the Portsmouth man’s perfect cross from the left wing that saw Fabijan Krivak tap the ball home for Croatia’s opener just before the stroke of half time.
It was this moment that inspired Croatia’s emphatic victory and was definitely a successful debut Pompey’s number ten.
Millenic Alli, the Portsmouth man on loan from Luton Town, was called up late by ROI boss Heimir Hallgrimsson to combat the injuries to Sammie Szmodics and Robbie Brady prior to Ireland’s friendly against North Macedonia.
Despite his call up though, Alli – who’s scored once and got one assist in the Championship this season – was left on the bench for Ireland as they drew 0-0 with North Macedonia in a frustrating friendly fixture.
Ultimately, the international break has been successful both individually for those five players and also for this Portsmouth side, mainly due to the fact that as far as is known at the moment, none of the departees have picked up any injuries in their endeavours.
The players who left will hopefully come back to the South Coast with an improved sense of confidence coming off their individual successes, yet the fact that key players like Terry Devlin and Gustavo Caballero played so many minutes during their time away could prove detrimental for Portsmouth.
This all comes at a crucial time for John Mousinho’s men who are in the midst of a relegation dog-fight at the bottom of the table, desperate to avoid any injuries in what is a pivotal run-in – starting with Norwich City at home this coming Friday.
