Italy great Paolo Maldini’s son Daniel made his debut for the Azzurri in Monday’s 4-1 win over Israel, marking the first time three generations of a family have played for the country’s national team.

Former AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini earned 126 caps while Cesare Maldini, Daniel’s grandfather, played his last game for Italy 61 years ago.

Paolo Maldini attended the Nations League match in Udine and saw his son come on as a 74th-minute substitute.

“I’m happy that my parents came here, we’ll talk when I get home,” 23-year-old Monza forward Daniel Maldini said after the match.

“It was a strong, positive emotion, I am very happy to have played and that the match went well … I hope to bring some quality, even if there is already too much, I try to help as much as I can.”

Italy, who are top of their group with 10 points from four matches, visit Belgium and host France next month.

-Reuters

England winger Bukayo Saka has returned to Arsenal for further assessment of a leg injury and will miss Sunday’s Nations League match in Finland, the England team said on Saturday.

Saka was forced off in the 51st minute of England’s 2-1 loss to Greece at Wembley on Thursday. England interim manager Lee Carsley had said that Saka suffered a leg injury.

A 22-man squad will fly to Helsinki ahead of Sunday’s Nations League fixture as Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has withdrawn due to personal reasons, the team statement added.

England are in second place in the GroupB2 standings, three points behind Greece after three games.

Saka’s injury is a blow for Arsenal with their captain Martin Odegaard also sidelined. Mikel Arteta’s side play Bournemouth away in the Premier League next Saturday

-Reuters

Greece beat England for the first time as Vangelis Pavlidis struck twice in a deserved 2-1 victory in Nations League Group B2 at Wembley on Thursday.

Pavlidis gave his side the lead early in the second half with a clinical finish and the visitors had three other goals ruled out against a disjointed England side.

Jude Bellingham looked to have rescued England when he fired in an 87th-minute equaliser through but there was another twist as the outstanding Pavlidis popped up in the fourth minute of stoppage time to shoot past Jordan Pickford from close range.

Victory put Greece top of the table with a maximum nine points while England’s first defeat under stand-in manager Lee Carsley left them second with six points.

-Reuters