Ceri Holland is captain of Wales and several other LFC women in international action

Numerous players from Liverpool FC’s women’s team were involved in international matches on Friday. Seven players played for their national teams, and another was not included in the squad as a precautionary measure.

Headlining the group was Ceri Holland, who wore the captain’s armband for Wales for the first time in her career in the match against Croatia. Before the match, Holland spoke about what it means to lead her team onto the field.

“It was very unexpected when I was told I was going to be captain for this game. It will be one of the biggest moments of my career to lead this team and these girls. This team is full of captains, this day is about coming together as a team.”

Wales dominated Croatia with a 3-0 win in their Euro 2016 qualifying group match. The Dragons are top of Group 4 of League B with 13 points from 5 games.

Jenna Clark started on the bench for Scotland when they faced Slovakia in the League B group stage. Clark finished the game as an unused substitute in Scotland’s 2-0 win.

Four Liverpool players were involved in the Euro League A qualifying group. Marie Höbinger started for Austria as they beat Poland 3-1. Niamh Fahey started in defence for Ireland as they lost 2-1 to England. Fahey conceded the penalty that proved to be the winner for England. Leanne Kiernan came on as a substitute for Ireland early in the second half. Liverpool’s Missy Bo Kearns was not included in England’s Euro qualifying squad despite taking part in qualifying preparations.

Meanwhile, Sophie Roman-Haug came on as a substitute for Norway in the 72nd minute. Norway were leading 1-0 at the time, but former Liverpool player Emma Koivisto scored a dramatic equaliser for Finland in the 98th minute to secure the draw.

Two Liverpool players are part of national teams that are completing their final preparations for the Paris Olympics. Fuka Nagano started and played the full 90 minutes for Japan as they beat Ghana 4-0. Teagan Micah was left out of the Australian squad as a precautionary measure when they played Canada. Micah is working on her recovery from an ankle injury sustained at the end of the WSL season. She has been training but the decision was made not to take any risks with the opening match of the Olympics starting in less than two weeks.