:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/21054105/184074487.0.jpg)
- In news that's sure to shock the football world, Karim Benzema actually managed to find the back of the net for his national team as France destroyed hapless Australia 6-0. Benzema did not get the start and scored the goal in the 51st minute after the game was well decided, though it could be a positive step in the right direction for him after not being able to score for France in 15 months. Let's hope the goals carry over to Madrid. Raphael Varane also played the full match, which is always great news.
- Germany put in another strong showing with a 3-0 win against the Republic of Ireland. Sami Khedira led the charge with a deflected goal after 12 minutes and played until the 82nd minute having completed 87 percent of his passes and winning three aerial duels. A former Real Madrid player also scored in the game, I'll leave the guessing game as to who said player was up to you. (Hint: his name starts with an Ö...)
- The Spanish team did what the Spanish team does and won a 2-1 game against Belarus. The game featured two players from Real Madrid, Sergio Ramos and Alvaro Arbeloa, saw Spain struggle to score and then hold on to life as Belarus scored in the 89th minute. Ramos picked up an assist and the two players played quite well. Iker Casillas and Isco were on the bench but did not see any playing time.
- Argentina took care of business by beating Peru 3-1 after falling behind in the 21st minute. Angel Di Maria got the start and played 90 minutes, tallying three shots (though none on goal), drawing four fouls and committing two before being substituted in the 90th minute.
- Luka Modric, despite having the most touches in the game and his 86 percent pass completion, could not guide Croatia past Belgium as Romelu Lukaku went into beast mode and scored a brace in the 2-1 win for Belgium. Modric also picked up a yellow card in the match.
- Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo featured in the match against Israel but, aside from Pepe's assist, could not secure the winning goal as the game ended in a 1-1 draw with Israel equalizing in the 85th minute thanks to a horrific mistake from Rui Patricio. The match was statistically in Portugal's favor but Cristiano was unable to find the back of the net with his late free kick which was fantastically saved by Israel's goalkeeper. Cristiano was also very lucky that the referee did not see him swing a kick at an Israel player.
All in all, the matches ended with zero, count them: zero, injuries for Real Madrid players and I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say "thank goodness!" with Malaga being on the schedule for next Saturday.