Roundup: Sunderland players on international duty - one wins a trophy & a legend wins the World Cup

Sunderland players around the globe

Some of them may be about to leave and some of them may have stated they would like to leave, but Sunderland have had various representatives turning out for their countries during the course of the past few days.

Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

Jermain Defoe probably no longer counts as a Sunderland player - except contractually for a few more weeks - and Seb Larsson may or may not be set to depart the Stadium of Light. But the former was on the bench for England's draw against Scotland at Hampden and the latter was a 77th minute introduction as Sweden beat France.

Larsson was instrumental in former Sunderland loanee Ola Toivonen's winning goal against the French. With the Sunderland midfielder putting Hugo Lloris under pressure, the Tottenham goalkeeper fluffed a clearance straight to the Swedish goalscorer who whacked it in from the halfway line.

Didier Ndong captained Gabon last night as his side were beaten by two-goals-to-one in Mali. The Sunderland midfielder played 90 minutes and looked a little lethargic in his second international fixture in under a week.

Sunderland left-back Bryan Oviedo has been with the Costa Rican squad who played out a goalless draw with Panama on Friday. The Black Cats defender came closest to scoring, smashing a shot off the crossbar in the 10th minute.

Lamine Kone was still missing for the Ivory Coast as the African nation were thumped by the Netherlands last weekend and beaten by Guinea last night in an AFCON2019 Qualifier.

Finally, midfielder Wahbi Khazri had been set for a return to the Tunisia side which will face Egypt later today. The Sunderland midfielder has been excused because he's just got married. Here's the happy couple.

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Toulon success

Sunderland youngster Elliot Embleton was part of the England squad which won their second successive Toulon tournament last night.

The 18-year-old had scored in the semi-final to hand the Young Lions a place in the final against the Ivory Coast.

Victory came after a tense penalty shoot-out with England running out 5-3 winners after a 1-1 stalemate.

The Sunderland Under-23 midfielder played 90 minutes in the final. Hailing from Durham, Embleton played 18 times in Premier League 2 last season scoring twice. He also featured against Rochdale and Wolves in the EFL Trophy.

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Ten days till the fixtures are announced

What's likely to come first, Sunderland naming a manager or the Black Cats finding out who they'll face first when the Championship season starts? At this rate, it's probably a 50/50 shout.

The EFL will announce its fixtures in ten days time on June 21st. The season kicks off on Friday August 4th.

As for the manager hunt, heaven knows. The Daily Star this morning reported that Sunderland have requested CV's from a host of applicants which caused some consternation amongst the candidates. 'Do you know who I am?' etc.

Judging by the lack-lustre names which make up the list of potentials, a curriculum vitae would likely be helpful, though probably most of them would be a little light in the 'outline your achievements' box.

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Bennett lifts the World Cup

Sunderland legend and radio stalwart Gary Bennett was part of the side which has just lifted the senior World Cup. The event took place this year in Thailand.

The tournament pits teams aged 38 - 50 against each other and England romped through with victories over the USA, New Zealand, Scotland and Iran in the final.