While most of the Leeds United squad are on holiday after a long season, several are yet to put their feet up after earning international call-ups. Eight Whites players will represent their country in the next fortnight - an astonishing figure considering the club finished 17th in the Premier League.
Only three were in action last night as a mixture of World Cup qualifiers and Nations League fixtures took place. Two Leeds players even went head-to-head less than a fortnight after the historic victory at Brentford that ensured top-flight survival.
LeedsLive profiles how the Whites contingent fared on Wednesday night as club captain Liam Cooper suffered international heartbreak.
Liam Cooper
Cooper and Scotland were stunned as Ukraine - against all odds - triumphed 3-1 at Hampden Park. Most expected the Tartan Army to brush aside the war-torn nation in front of a rapturous home crowd.
However, a midfield masterclass from Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko inspired Ukraine to a commanding victory. Cooper started the game on the left of a three-man defence due to Kieran Tierney’s absence.
The Leeds captain was caught napping for Andriy Yarmolenko’s opener and he was hooked on 68 minutes as Scotland went on the offensive. After the game, Steve Clarke admitted his players were “suffering” in the dressing room.
"I'm suffering, my coaching staff are suffering and more than anyone, the players are suffering,” he said. "We'll have 24 hours where we'll feel sorry for ourselves. We'll analyse the game as a coaching staff and group of players. We'll try and get back on the horse and go again."
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Dan James
Despite the Nations League adding competitive value to the fixture, the importance of Wales’ 2-1 defeat to Poland dwarfs in comparison to their World Cup play-off against Ukraine. The Dragons rested star players Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey with one eye on Sunday’s decider at the Millenium Stadium.
James started up front and faced off against his Leeds teammate Mateusz Klich. An ineffective first-half showing saw the Whites winger hooked at half-time - possibly a nod towards the Ukraine clash.
It is hard to judge Wales’ performance last night given the magnitude of this weekend’s fixture as the nation looks to reach its first World Cup since 1958. Caretaker manager Robert Page acknowledged the weakened outfit he fielded post-match.
"We made changes for the right reason," Page told the BBC. "We've got this play-off final to think about, so that adds to the thinking behind the team selection.
"The players who played today, I couldn't be more proud of them. If you're going to lose a game of football, lose it that way. We just played against a strong Polish team - that was their best 11 available to them. We took the lead against a very good Polish team and I thought we deserved a point.
"We're back tonight [Wednesday], on the grass tomorrow and full focus is on Sunday."
Mateusz Klich
Klich bettered his Leeds counterpart as Poland moved top of their Nations League group after one game. The midfielder started the game but was subbed at the hour mark, with Poland trailing 1-0.
As stated previously, Wales have bigger fish to fry on Sunday which gave this game a dead-rubber feel, typical of an end-of-season curtain-raiser. Far more daunting tasks lie ahead of Klich, however, as Poland travel to Belgium on June 8 and the Netherlands three days later.
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