Alisson, Florenzi, Fazio, Manolas and More Roma Players on International Duty Today

International breaks are the absolute worst. So often they interrupt the most intriguing or heated parts of the domestic fixture list, but, if you’re a fan of international football, they’re a necessary evil. National teams have precious little time to develop chemistry leading up to major international tournaments, so these friendlies, loathsome though they be, serve a purpose. While that’s all fine and dandy, Italy isn’t playing in the World Cup this summer (they just didn’t feel like travelling. Summer is hectic. It’s not that they didn’t qualify or anything) so these breaks are all the more interminable.

Nevertheless, there were several Roma players in action today, so how about a quick recap of the day’s events?

Alisson: Brazil vs. Russia

Alisson Becker and the rest of the Seleçao ventured off to Mother Russia to play their first Neymar-less match against the World Cup hosts. Neymar or not, Brazil flatout dominated this one, thanks in no small part to our very own Alisson, who turned away all 11 Russian attempts. Apparently he’s good at what he does or something.

Patrik Schick: Czech Republic vs Uruguay

Shick’s Roma struggles carried over to his national team, as the young Czech striker was rather inconclusive in today’s matchup against Luis Suarez and the rest of Uruguay, though he did play the full 90 minutes, which is more than he’s been able to do in a Roma shirt lately.

Edin Dzeko: BIH vs Bulgaria

Dzeko didn’t factor in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 1-0 victory over Bulgaria today, which by all appearances was a rather dull affair.

Kostas Manolas: Greece vs Switzerland

Ditto for Manolas, who played 79 drama free minutes against the Swiss today. Considering how important Manolas is, he can make errors all day long for Greece so long as he emerges unscathed.

Aleksandar Kolarov: Serbia vs Morocco

Seventy-eight minutes of fury tonight for Kolarov, who squared off against Hakim Ziyech and the rest of Morocco. Ziyech had a great game, converting a penalty for the matches first goal. He may be a Roma player before too long if you believe certain rumors.

Kevin Strootman: Netherlands vs England

Stroots played 90 minutes for Holland in their narrow 1-0 loss to England today. Strootman has long been connected with a move to the Premiership, and with Roma looking to reinforce the midfield next year, who knows, perhaps he got a glimpse of his future?

Alessandro Florenzi and Lorenzo Pellegrini: Argentina vs Italy

With Florenzi and Pellegrini seemingly having a secure spot in the Azzurri rotation, Roma’s legacy within the Italian National Team setup should continue into the foreseeable future. Tonight, however, there wasn’t much to report, as neither Ale nor Zo had much of an impact, playing for a combined 90 minutes or so. Italy is very much a work in progress, which should give each of these Romans ample opportunity to make their mark.

Federico Fazio and Diego Perotti: Argentina vs. Italy

Fazio played the full 90 in Argentina’s shutout of the Azzurri, while Perotti came on as a second half sub for Angel Di Maria. Argentina was the latest in a long line of nations to take advantage of Italy’s current malaise, but at least this time we can hang our hats on a couple of Roma players, right? Right? (I’m crying).

So that’s it for now, eight more days until the next Roma match!