Daniel Peretz shines and Finn Azaz draws blank as Southampton stars go international

Several Southampton players featured for their respective countries over the course of Saturday.

To get the elephant in the room out of the way immediately, Kuryu Matsuki was unfortunately not present whatsoever for Japan's crazy 3-2 friendly win over Brazil, as the Saints winger was left out of the Samurai Blue squad entirely.

This will have been disappointing for Matsuki, who has been in inspired form recently for Tonda Eckert's men, with three Championship goals coming his way in October.

He has a chance to still play for his beloved nation before the break is over, as Japan face another South American opponent in a friendly in the form of Paraguay on Tuesday.

Thankfully, for the purposes of this round-up article, all the other senior Saints players out on international duty did feature for their nations...

Daniel Peretz would start in goal for Israel against Kosovo in Nations League action, with Peretz's nation yet to pick up a win in Group 3 of the League B format from four games, heading into their showdown at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium.

They would come away from the match in Pristina with a determined 0-0 draw, with six shots registered at the Kosovo goal.

They might be a tad disappointed they didn't kick on and grab a win against Kosovo, as the hosts were reduced to ten men during the second half due to a second yellow card being issued.

Ultimately, though, they will take another draw, with the Israelis now up to three draws from five Nations League contests, as Peretz was busy in between the sticks.

The Saints stopper had to make three saves in total to keep the Dardanians at arm's length, as he kept a clean sheet he will cherish on his 15th cap.

Finn Azaz has just one goal next to his name from 15 Republic of Ireland caps, with Saints fans not seeing their exciting and forward-thinking midfield presence come to the fore whatsoever during his country's latest Nations League test against Austria.

The Boys in Green would slip up to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Austria courtesy of a late winner from ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Sasa Kalajdzic.

The slim win would ensure that Austria remained top of the group, while Heimir Hallgrímsson's men remain in an unsatisfactory third position.

Focusing back on Azaz, he really struggled to get going at the Raiffeisen Arena, with 12 of his 32 passes on the night going astray.

He also managed to just register one on-target shot at Alexander Schlager's net, who amassed a mighty seven saves come the end of the game to frustrate Hallgrímsson and Co.

Lastly, when looking at just the senior contingent of Saints players out on their duties, Ryan Manning also featured in Linz on Saturday evening for the Republic of Ireland.

Manning has now amassed 28 caps for his country, but he won't look back on this 1-0 defeat with much fondness.

In recent times for Eckert's men, he has been an attacking force when marauding down the left flank, with two assists picked up last month as Southampton beat Queens Park Rangers 4-1.

Against Austria, his performance was a lot more quiet, as he failed to register a single accurate cross all night.

The 30-year-old would be replaced on the 69th minute mark by Everton defender Jake O'Brien, as well, as he tasted another dire defeat for his nation.

Before the article is over and done with, both Divin Mubama and Romeo Akachukwu did get called up to the England U21s and Republic of Ireland U21s respectively.

But, much like Azaz and Manning, they didn't stand out, as Mubama failed to find the back of the net from just 23 touches against Portugal U21s, while his 20-year-old counterpart didn't even climb off the subsitutes bench against Finland U21s.