Brentford International Round-Up: Debuts, Goals and Standout Moments

Thirteen Brentford first-team players were called up for international duty during the September and October break, with first caps, goals and a captaincy among the standout moments before attention turns back to club football.

Michael Kayode marked his Italy debut with a goal, and Vitaly Janelt made his first appearance for Germany, while Kristoffer Ajer finished Norway's schedule with a spectacular strike against Portugal. Mikkel Damsgaard also enjoyed a productive three games for Denmark and Caoimhín Kelleher captained the Republic of Ireland.

Here is how each of Brentford's first-team call-ups got on during the international break.

Kayode leaves his first senior Italy camp with three caps and a goal.

The 22-year-old was an unused substitute for the opening defeat to Belgium before starting away to Turkey three days later. His debut could hardly have gone much better: Kayode scored after 27 minutes in a 4-1 win and completed the full game.

Another 90 minutes followed in Italy's 1-1 draw with France, before Kayode was introduced after 55 minutes of Monday's 3-1 victory over Turkey in Bologna. That gave him around 215 minutes of senior international football across the window, having arrived without a cap.

Despite both making Germany’s national team, the Brentford duo didn’t feature in the same squad, due to Jurgen Klopp taking a split approach to the Nations League. Janelt had to wait until the closing stages against Serbia for his Germany debut, replacing Aleksandar Pavlović in the 88th minute of a 2-0 victory.

It was only a brief appearance, but a significant one. Janelt became the 1,001st player to represent Germany's men's senior team and remained with the squad for the subsequent goalless draw against Greece, when he was an unused substitute.

Schade had been involved earlier in the window and started both of Germany's first two Nations League games under Jürgen Klopp. He played 64 minutes of the 1-1 draw in the Netherlands and another 65 against Greece, creating a first-half chance for Younes Ebnoutalib against Greece before Germany were beaten 1-0.

No Brentford player accumulated more minutes for his country than Ajer, who played all 360 available across Norway's four Nations League matches.

The centre-back started the 3-2 victory over Denmark and stayed in the side throughout meetings with Portugal, Wales and Portugal again. His window ended with its most memorable moment in Porto, where he controlled Martin Odegaard's free-kick before sending a half-volley into the top corner from the edge of the area.

Norway eventually lost 2-1, but Ajer returned from international duty with a goal to go with four complete appearances.

Damsgaard's three appearances brought two goals and an assist before an ankle injury brought his international break to an early end.

He scored from a free-kick in the 3-2 defeat to Norway and was heavily involved again as Denmark beat Wales 2-0, with his deliveries contributing to both goals. Against Portugal, Damsgaard equalised in the first half and later set up Rasmus Højlund as Denmark twice fought back before losing 4-2.

Damsgaard was substituted in the 85th minute of that game after hurting his ankle. He told TV2 afterwards that he had rolled it and hoped the problem was not serious, but further assessment ruled him out of Denmark's final match against Wales.

Denmark head coach Brian Riemer later explained that what had initially been thought to be a knock had proved more significant, with Damsgaard withdrawing from the squad and Mathias Kvistgaarden called up in his place.

Kelleher played every minute of the Republic of Ireland's four Nations League fixtures and finished the break wearing the captain's armband.

His only clean sheet came in the 3-0 win over Israel, when he made four saves after Ireland had responded to an opening defeat in Kosovo. Draws with Austria and Israel followed, with Kelleher making another five saves against the Austrians before captaining his country in the final game.

The goalkeeper ended the window with 360 minutes from four starts and one clean sheet.

Sangaré started all three of Mali's games and was involved for 252 minutes.

The midfielder completed the opening 3-1 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win over Cape Verde and played 89 minutes as Mali followed it with a 1-0 victory in Liberia. His final appearance came in a friendly against Morocco, where he played 73 minutes of a 1-1 draw.

Mali therefore went through Sangaré's three appearances unbeaten, with the two competitive victories giving them a perfect start to their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign.

Diouf started Senegal's two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and completed both games.

He played 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw away to Mozambique before another full appearance in the 1-0 win over Ethiopia, helping Senegal keep a clean sheet. The Brentford defender was then an unused substitute as a 1-0 friendly victory over Comoros brought Senegal's window to an end.

That left Diouf with 180 minutes across two senior appearances.

Valdimarsson played every minute of Iceland's four Nations League matches and finished the window with three consecutive clean sheets.

His opening appearance included a penalty save from Kevor Palumets during a 1-1 draw with Estonia. Iceland did not concede again after that, beating Luxembourg and Bulgaria 3-0 before Tuesday night's return meeting with Estonia finished goalless.

Valdimarsson made three saves in Tallinn to complete another shutout, leaving him with 360 minutes, three clean sheets and a penalty save from four starts.

Hickey made three appearances during Scotland's four-game Nations League programme.

He started the opening 0-0 draw in Slovenia and played 78 minutes, going close with a header from an Andy Robertson corner. After remaining on the bench for the 3-0 defeat to Switzerland, he came on for the final 15 minutes of Scotland's 2-0 win away to North Macedonia.

Hickey was again introduced from the bench in Tuesday night's return meeting with Slovenia, replacing Stephen Welsh after 66 minutes. Scotland were leading 1-0 at the time but eventually lost 2-1 at Hampden Park, leaving Hickey with 117 minutes across three appearances during the window.

Ji-soo returns to Brentford as an Asian Games champion after starting all five of South Korea's matches on their way to gold.

The centre-back played 430 minutes across the tournament, scoring in the 4-0 win over Vietnam and completing the full 90 minutes in both the semi-final victory over China and Saturday's final against Japan.

Eom Ji-sung scored the only goal as South Korea won 1-0 at Toyota Stadium, securing a fourth successive Asian Games men's football title. Ji-soo had started every game along the way, having also been involved in victories over Qatar and Saudi Arabia during the group stage.

Ouattara was the only one of Brentford's senior call-ups not to make an appearance during the window.

The winger missed Burkina Faso's 1-1 draw with Benin through illness and had not recovered in time for their 1-0 victory over the Central African Republic three days later. Head coach Amir Abdou confirmed before the second qualifier that Ouattara remained unwell.

He also did not feature when Burkina Faso finished their international programme with a 7-0 friendly defeat to Argentina in Buenos Aires. 

Schuster's first game of the window brought another milestone, with the Bees defender captaining Austria Under-21s from the start for the first time.

He completed the full 90 minutes of their 1-1 European Championship qualifying draw with Denmark, Erik Kojzek equalising during the second half after Conrad Harder had put the visitors ahead.

It was Schuster's fourth appearance of the current qualifying campaign, having already played throughout Austria's opening three matches. His international schedule concludes away to Wales on Tuesday evening.

With the international break now complete, Brentford's attention turns back to Saturday's Premier League trip to Aston Villa.

Damsgaard's ankle injury is the main concern to emerge from the window, with Brentford now waiting to see how quickly he can return to full fitness.

Elsewhere, there were plenty of positives for Andrews to take, including senior debuts, goals and important minutes for several members of his squad.