Academy Internationals: Devenny nets first Northern Ireland goal

Club

19 Oct 2024

Nine of Palace's Academy prospects were in action over the October international break, here's how they got on.

Midfielder Hindolo Mustapha received another call-up to the Sierra Leone senior squad ahead of their crucial 2025 African Cup of Nations qualification double-header against Ivory Coast.

Mustapha became one of the youngest ever Palace players to receive a senior international call-up in September and he even scored for Sierra Leone in his second appearance against Zambia.

He and his side lost their first game against the highly-rated Ivory Coast side, though Mustapha made an instant impact when he assisted Sierra Leone’s equaliser within a minute of coming on off the bench.

Watch Mustapha’s assist in the video below!

For Northern Ireland U21s in their 2025 UEFA U21 European Championship qualifiers, midfielder Justin Devenny was called-up for their final two games against Azerbaijan and Luxembourg.

In a resounding 5-0 win, Devenny scored his first ever goal for the Northern Ireland U21s side, a pinpoint free-kick from the edge of the box that went in off the post.

He featured again in their second game against Luxembourg, which ultimately ended in a 0-0 draw. The Northern Ireland U21s side unfortunately did not qualify for the final stage of the tournament.

Watch Devenny's goal in the video below!

Tayo Adaramola, Killian Phillips and Franco Umeh were all called up to represent the Republic of Ireland Under-21s in their 2025 UEFA U21 European Championship qualifiers against Norway and Italy.

The Republic of Ireland were second in Group A going into the games, though they fell agonisingly short of qualifying after back-to-back 1-1 draws against Norway and Italy. Norway pipped them to the play-off spot by virtue of a better head-to-head record.

Phillips and Adaramola managed to get minutes under their belts in both games, while Umeh was an unused substitute on both occasions.

Centre-back Jake Grante was called-up to the Republic of Ireland Under-19 squad for a trio of friendlies against Mexico U20s, Greece and hosts Croatia.

These games were in preparation for their 2025 UEFA U19 European Championship qualifiers against Moldova, Azerbaijan and Iceland in November, and Grante managed two full 90s against Greece and Mexico - keeping a clean sheet in the latter fixture.

Matteo Dashi, who recently signed his first professional contract, has earned a call-up to the Albania U19s side for the first time. He has previously represented the side at U18 and U16 level.

They faced two back-to-back games against Montenegro, in preparation for their 2025 UEFA U19 European Championship qualifiers against Israel, Denmark and Northern Ireland in November. Albania won the first game 2-0 and the second game 3-2.

The in-form Jesse Derry received another call-up to represent the England Under-18s side, this time in a four-team tournament in Marbella.

The Young Lions lost 2-0 to Sweden at the Marbella Football Centre in the first of two matches and then managed to beat Ukraine 3-1 in their following fixture. Derry played 78 minutes against Sweden and 28 as a substitute against Ukraine.

Summer signing Kurai Musanhi had already been in action for Zimbabwe Under-20s in their 2025 U20 African Cup of Nations qualifiers earlier in late September, featuring in three of their four games as they narrowly lost out on securing qualification in a semi-final against Zambia.

Sierra Leone - Hindolo Mustapha

Friday, 11th October: Ivory Coast 4-1 Sierra Leone (Mustapha came on in the 41st minute and assisted the equaliser in the 43rd minute)
Tuesday, 15th October: Sierra Leone 1-0 Ivory Coast (Mustapha did not feature in this game)

Republic of Ireland U21s - Tayo Adaramola, Killian Phillips, Franco Umeh

Friday, 11th October: Republic of Ireland 1-1 Norway (Phillips played 77 minutes, Adaramola and Umeh were unused substitutes)
Tuesday, 15th October: Italy 1-1 Republic of Ireland (Adaramola came on as a second-half substitute, Phillips and Umeh were unused substitutes)

Northern Ireland U21s - Justin Devenny

Saturday, 12th October: Northern Ireland 5-0 Azerbaijan (Devenny played the full 90 minutes and scored in the 67th)
Tuesday, 15th October: Luxembourg 0-0 Northern Ireland (Devenny played 85 minutes)

Republic of Ireland U19s - Jake Grante

Wednesday, 9th October: Republic of Ireland 2-2 Greece (Grante played the full 90 minutes)
Saturday, 12th October: Croatia 2-2 Republic of Ireland (Grante did not feature in this game)
Tuesday, 15th October: Mexico 0-2 Republic of Ireland (Grante played the full 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet)

Albania U19s - Matteo Dashi

Friday, 11th October: Montenegro 0-2 Albania (13:00)
Sunday, 13th October: Montenegro 2-3 Albania (12:00)

England U18s - Jesse Derry

Friday, 11th October: England 0-2 Sweden (Derry played 78 minutes)
Monday, 14th October: England 3-1 Ukraine(Derry played 28 minutes off the bench)

Zimbabwe U20s - Kurai Musanhi

Thursday, 26th September: Zimbabwe 1-1 Botswana (Musanhi came on in the 77th minute)
Saturday, 28th September: Eswatini 0-3 Zimbabwe (Musanhi played the full 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet)

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