Sunderland's International Stars: Trio Shine As Youngster Continues Streak

Sunderland trio Noah Sadiki, Chris Rigg and Jocelin Ta Bi have all impressed in the early outings of the two-week-long international break, with the latter young duo both bagging assists in their opening games for their respective national sides.

13 members of Sunderland's dressing room are away from the Academy of Light currently on international duty, across multiple competitions, and the aforementioned trio of Black Cats stars have already made a stellar start to the November fixtures.

Sunderland midfielder Sadiki, who was outstanding in the 1-0 win over Chelsea before the break, started for DR Congo in their 3-1 win over Sierra Leone to help set his nation on course for African Cup of Nations qualification in the first of a two-legged tie, with the second coming next week.

Within the Sierra Leone win, energetic midfielder Sadiki enjoyed an 87 percent passing accuracy, created two chances for his teammates, and played nine passes into the final third in a commanding and quality performance in the heart of Congo's midfield.

Sadiki has been a mainstay in Sunderland's midfield this season, and his athletic performance against Chelsea was arguably his best of the campaign thus far.

In the youth internationals, Sadiki's fellow midfielder Rigg enjoyed an equally impressive performance for England's under-20s side, in a comfortable 6-1 victory over Czechia's under-20s.

Sunderland's Young Lion played the full 90 minutes and managed to register an assist in the second half for Chelsea youngster Shumaira Mheuka, in yet another excellent performance for the England youth side from Rigg, with his teammates set to face Portugal's under-20s next week.

Academy of Light graduate Rigg has struggled to make a sufficient impact this season, but was stellar in the goalless stalemate against Leeds United before the break, with his energy and versatility always helpful for Le Bris.

Rigg's fellow young Sunderland talent Ta Bi started for the Ivory Coast under-23s in their 2-1 African Cup of Nations qualifier defeat against Kenya, but managed to provide a moment of magic during the game.

Ta Bi, who dazzled against Brentford in the fourth-round Carabao Cup win before the break with a hat-trick of assists, continued his creative streak with an assist in the second-half for Ivory Coast's goal, which proved inconsequential to the result.

Hopefully, Ta Bi can create further chances for his teammates in the reverse fixture of the two-legged qualification tie when the two sides meet again early next week, and will return to the Sunderland starting XI after confusingly not being seen since the Brentford win.

Additionally, 21-year-old Ta Bi and the Stadium of Light will hoping to see the winger given more warranted Sunderland opportunities in the coming stages of the season, given how exciting his attacking performance against the Bees was.

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