TWELVE things we spotted during the international break

The international break produced a raft of goals, rivalries renewed, penalty heroics and record-breaking performances. Here, Ben Bloom picks out 12 key talking points that involved current and past Premier League stars.

- Haaland claims latest goalscoring record
- Son makes South Korean history
- Kelleher’s prestigious penalty prowess
- Jota remembered in Portugal win
- Liverpool stars score goals galore
- Estevao continues hot streak
- Costa and Skrtel resume rivalry in legends’ game
- Sweden manager sacked after strikers misfire
- Premier League duo net first international goals
- Pickford sets new clean-sheet record
- Multiple World Cup places secured
- Injury concerns for Premier League clubs

Haaland claims latest goalscoring record

Erling Haaland cannot stop scoring. His current hot streak is remarkable, as he has now found the net in 10 consecutive appearances for Manchester City and Norway.

A hat-trick in a 5-0 World Cup qualifying win over Israel took his goal tally to 20 during that 10-game run, and also made him the quickest player ever to reach a half-century of international goals. Haaland now has 51 goals in just 46 games for Norway.

Job done, he then skipped Norway’s friendly against New Zealand and returned to Manchester for a rest ahead of the Premier League’s resumption.

Son makes South Korean history

Son Heung-min has broken new ground many times during his career, setting multiple goalscoring and appearance records for South Korean and Asian players across a host of competitions.

By playing in South Korea's friendly against Brazil, the former Tottenham Hotspur forward earned his 137th international cap, putting him top of his country's all-time appearances chart for the men's team.

Captains' handshake - Son Heung-min and Marquinhos

It was not a particularly successful match for Son, with Brazil inflicting a heavy 5-0 defeat, but the captain had better luck in the subsequent friendly when South Korea beat Paraguay 2-0 and he was presented with a special commemorative jersey beforehand.

Kelleher’s prestigious penalty prowess

Caoimhin Kelleher left Liverpool for Brentford in the summer to secure regular club football, and this has already resulted in the goalkeeper extending his impressive record of saving penalties — he denied Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes in the Bees' recent 3-1 victory.

Kelleher followed that by keeping out Cristiano Ronaldo’s spot-kick in Republic of Ireland’s 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Portugal, taking his career tally to six saves from 11 penalties (excluding shootouts) faced in senior football.

The last three penalties he has saved were taken by Ronaldo, Fernandes and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe – not a bad trio to prevent scoring.

Jota remembered in Portugal win

Portugal’s win over Republic of Ireland provided emotional scenes when matchwinner Ruben Neves paid tribute to his late friend Diogo Jota.

Neves, who played with Jota at Wolverhampton Wanderers, inherited the former Liverpool forward's No 21 shirt for Portugal following his tragic death this summer.

In Portugal’s first home match since then, Neves scored his maiden international goal to secure a 1-0 win in stoppage time. To celebrate, he kissed his shirt number and pointed to the sky in honour of his former team-mate. He then rolled his sock down to display a tattoo showing the pair hugging on his left calf.

Liverpool trio revel in goals

Given his remarkable exploits last season, it has been a comparatively slow start to the campaign for Mohamed Salah, with only two goals in seven outings for Liverpool.

But the Anfield icon struck exactly when required for his country, scoring twice in a 3-0 win against Djibouti to secure Egypt’s World Cup qualification.

Four of Salah's Liverpool team-mates found the net during the international break. 

Cody Gakpo scored three goals and assisted one across the Netherlands' 4-0 wins over Malta and Finland, with Virgil van Dijk also netting against the latter.

Dominik Szoboszlai equalised for Hungary in stoppage time as they drew 2-2 away to Portugal, and Alexis Mac Allister struck twice as Argentina thrashed Puerto Rico 6-0 in a friendly.

Estevao continues hot streak

It has been an impressive start to his Chelsea career for Estevao, who had already caught the eye several times before scoring the winning goal against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

The 18-year-old then struck twice in Brazil’s 5-0 friendly triumph over South Korea, having opened his international account during the previous international break in September.

Rotated onto the bench for Brazil’s follow-up friendly against Japan, Estevao could not spare his side the embarrassment of relinquishing a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2.

Costa and Skrtel resume rivalry in legends’ game

While the current crop of Chelsea and Liverpool players were dotted around the world, many of their famous predecessors headed to Stamford Bridge where a sole Ryan Babel goal secured Liverpool Legends a 1-0 victory over Chelsea Legends.

With the likes of Eden Hazard, John Terry and Claude Makelele providing plenty of stardust, Diego Costa was involved in the most memorable moment when clashing with old foe Martin Skrtel.

There were no further flashpoints and the match raised huge sums of money for the Chelsea Foundation and LFC Foundation.

Sweden manager sacked after strikers misfire

The season has not started with a bang for Sweden’s big-money strike duo Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres.

Isak and Gyokeres have yet to hit the heights that convinced Liverpool and Arsenal respectively to splash out on their signatures - and their frustrations have merely heightened playing for their country.

The pair played every minute of Sweden’s World Cup qualifying defeats to Switzerland (0-2) and Kosovo (0-1).

Their manager Jon Dahl Tomasson was sacked after the second loss, with Sweden at the bottom of their qualifying group, having scored only twice in four matches.

Premier League duo net first international goals

There was greater joy for two other Premier League strikers as Jean-Philippe Mateta and Nick Woltemade scored their first senior international goals.

Crystal Palace forward Mateta, making his full France debut at the age of 28, put his side ahead in their eventual 2-2 draw in Iceland in a World Cup qualifier.

That same night, Newcastle United striker Woltemade struck the only goal to see off Northern Ireland 1-0 and move Germany to top spot in their qualifying group.

Pickford sets new clean-sheet record

It was an excellent international break for the Premier League’s English contingent, who secured their World Cup place with two games to spare.

Thomas Tuchel’s side sit top of their qualifying group, boasting a perfect record of six wins, 18 goals and none conceded.

With shut-outs against Wales and Latvia, Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford broke Gordon Banks’ clean-sheet record to go nine successive matches without shipping a goal.

There were notable performances from Palace captain Marc Guehi, who assisted twice in the 3-0 win over Wales, and former Spurs striker Harry Kane, whose double against Latvia took him to 76 England goals.

Multiple World Cup places secured

It was a hugely significant international break across the globe, with 28 of the 48 World Cup spots now filled.

Cape Verde will become the second-smallest country by population (after Iceland) to play at a men’s World Cup, where they will be joined by fellow African qualifiers Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia claimed the latest two Asian spots available, while a Premier League-packed England became the first European country to seal their World Cup place.

Injury concerns for Premier League clubs

There could be selection headaches for some Premier League managers after a number of players picked up injuries.

Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins withdrew from England duty after colliding with the post in the win over Wales, while Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch came off with a reported hamstring problem for Netherlands.

Amid a raft of injury problems, Chelsea have concerns over Enzo Fernandez, who returned early from Argentina duty with knee inflammation.

Other players who were reported to have issues include Fulham's Antonee Robinson and Samuel Chukwueze, Sunderland duo Noah Sadiki and Omar Alderete, Burnley’s Lyle Foster and Yves Bissouma of Spurs.