Who Is Hot and Who Is Not in World Football After Weekend of October 9-12
The international break in world football is almost over, but it has once more brought us a host of storylines with teams, players and managers claiming big results, notable performances and column inches.
Whether the focus on them has been for contributing the good or the bad during the recent national team matches, we've rounded up a collection of individuals for the latest instalment of Hot or Not, picked exclusively from international football.
Feel free to leave your own suggestions below.
Hot: Paco Alcacer
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While a lot of focus has been on Diego Costa and his ongoing search for a first goal for Spain—he achieved it against Luxembourg—Spain's other forward, Paco Alcacer, has set about proving himself a genuine option in attack for his nation.
He came off the bench to score against Slovakia in Spain's match on Thursday, and he added another against Luxembourg—his third in three qualifying games.
Alcacer has scored with all three of his shots on target in Euro 2016 qualifiers, per Opta.
Not: Iker Casillas
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At the other end of the pitch, things just aren't picking up for Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
He was certainly culpable for Slovakia's first goal, a free-kick that he dived out of the way of, and he could have done far more for the late, second goal which saw Spain defeated.
Casillas was dropped for the following match against Luxembourg, with David de Gea taking his place.
Hot: Milivoje Novakovic
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Slovenia sit in second place in Group E after recording back-to-back wins over Switzerland and Lithuania.
They won 1-0 and 2-0 in those matches respectively, with veteran forward Milivoje Novakovic netting all three goals. The win over the Swiss in particular is a notable step for Slovenia, who lost both their matches against Switzerland in their 2014 World Cup qualification group.
Novakovic is the second-highest scorer for his nation, behind the memorable Zlatko Zahovic.
Not: Fabio Capello
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In 2012, Russia appointed Fabio Capello with a long-term view of him improving the nation and leading them into the 2018 World Cup on home soil as one of the favourites, but so far, there is scant evidence of the Italian taking Russia up a level.
Their two recent qualification games for Euro 2016 yielded two points from an away draw to Sweden and a dreadful home draw against lowly Moldova.
A win over Liechtenstein remains their only victory in a group that looks set to be extremely tight between four of the six sides.
Hot: Diego Tardelli
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Brazil needed a big boost in attack after their World Cup exit and the travails of Fred and co., so the man given the chance to lead that line, Diego Tardelli, could hardly have made a better impact than he did on Saturday.
The Atletico Mineiro striker scored twice against Brazil's biggest rivals, Argentina, opening his account at international level and giving his nation a 2-0 win in the friendly in China.
At 29 years of age, he's not exactly going to have an extended career with Brazil, so Tardelli is certainly looking to make the most of the time he has playing for the Selecao.
Not: Jordan Perez
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Gibraltar goalkeeper Jordan Perez has a thankless task trying to keep the newest UEFA member in games, given they are largely formed of part-time players, in a group against the likes of Germany, Poland and Ireland.
Unfortunately, his side have conceded 14 goals in their first two games, losing 7-0 both times, including against Ireland on Saturday.
Perez conceded four, scored an own goal for the fifth and was then substituted off in what was a bit of a disaster on a personal and collective level.
Hot: Martin Skrtel
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Martin Skrtel was a massive performer for Slovakia in their 2-1 win over Spain, forging a barrier alongside Jan Durica that the former world champions found nigh on impenetrable.
Skrtel's clearances, aggressive marking and consistent form continued into the next match, in which Slovakia beat Belarus, 3-1, away from home.
The centre-back's efforts resulted in six points for his nation, who sit top of Group C with a 100 per cent record, three points ahead of both Spain and Ukraine.
Hot: Wojciech Szczesny
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Our final nod of the head goes to Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, partly because his performance demanded it but also as a collective accolade for his team, who beat world champions Germany 2-0 on Saturday.
Szczesny kept a clean sheet in the face of extreme pressure and over 20 shots for the Germans, most of which were on target.
Poland moved to the top of their qualification group as a result and face Scotland on Tuesday.
