Watford international round-up: Rocco Vata makes his

A return to club football is finally in sight, as Watford host Burnley on Saturday, but, before the Hornets head back to Vicarage Road, there is still some international football to be played.

Over the previous several days, eight Watford players were involved for their respective nations on the global stage.

Here is a look at how each player got on, with a generally positive time for the club’s international representatives.

For most nations, hosting San Marino is an opportunity to put on a show. Spain U21s certainly lived up to that billing, as they cruised to a 13-0 win away to the microstate.

Bravo played 70 minutes of the game, with Spain already leading 10-0 in the U21 Euro qualifier when he was replaced.

Despite not getting on the scoresheet, the 21-year-old advanced midfielder offered an excellent creative display, providing two assists in the thrashing.

It was the youngster’s second appearance of the international break, after a narrow defeat in Finland previously, with a third game - at home to Romania, to follow this week.

Hector Kypriano was back in action for Cyprus for the third time this international break as they hosted Armenia in League C of the UEFA Nations League.

For the second consecutive game, the 25-year-old defender kept a clean sheet, this time from the start, and did so in style as Cyprus battled to a 2-0 victory despite being reduced to 10 men in the 52nd minute, when they were already leading by two goals.

Kypriano was not alone in his excellent performance, with the entire Cypriot backline that ended the game producing a superb display to not only get the three points across the line, but also the accompanying clean sheet.

It has been a memorable international break for Rocco Vata, who has added to his sole Republic of Ireland cap with two appearances against Israel.

The second, on Sunday, was his first-ever senior international appearance in a 'home' for Ireland, though it was played at a neutral venue.

Vata came on in the 69th minute of Ireland’s 1-1 draw with Israel, after both goals had already been scored, giving him a longer cameo than in the reverse fixture.

The 21-year-old has now tripled his international cap tally from before the current break, after also featuring in seven of the Hornets’ first eight games in the Championship, including twice from the start.

Mamadou Doumbia made his first appearance of the international break in Mali’s 1-1 draw against AFCON champions Morocco.

Mali had initially been set for a game against Tunisia, but it was cancelled at the last minute, and so too was Morocco’s friendly against Ghana.

As a result, the sides agreed to face each other in a game which handed Doumbia a rare start for his nation.

Despite not being on the scoresheet, the 20-year-old played a full game for Mali, in their final game of the international break.

Like Vata, Kevin Keben had only claimed one international cap for Cameroon before the current international break.

Also like Vata, that number has now tripled, with his third cap coming in just his second-ever start for Cameroon, a 1-0 win over Côte d’Ivoire.

Keben played 90 minutes in the win, Cameroon’s final game of the break, and the young defender received a lot of praise for his efforts.

Like the senior Morocco team, Morocco U23s drew 1-1 against Mali U23s in a friendly, their penultimate match of the international break.

Othmane Maamma started the game and, like many of his Watford teammates during this international break, was commended for his performance, despite Morocco not emerging victorious.

On-loan defender Branimir Mlacic was not involved in Croatia U21s’ 1-0 defeat against Ukraine.

The 19-year-old was permitted to leave the camp early after his side secured U21 Euros qualification with a 3-1 win over Hungary, which Mlacic started earlier in the break.

It has been a very different story for Nikoloz Chikovani, whose Georgia U21s side have long been without a chance of U21 Euros qualification.

The 19-year-old winger, who has not yet featured for the Hornets this season, played 65 minutes in a 1-1 draw away to Northern Ireland U21s, a result which leaves them 14 points from playoff qualification with just a single game remaining.