St James’ Park will play host to two international matches during the upcoming international break.
Saudi Arabia will play two matches at St James’ Park in September as they prepare for their forthcoming participation in the AFC Asian Cup that takes place in Qatar in January. Costa Rica on Friday, September 8 (8pm kick-off) and South Korea on Tuesday, September 12 (5:30pm kick-off) will be their opponents on Tyneside.
Their first match with Costa Rica could see Sunderland winger Jewison Bennette line-up at St James’ Park. Bennette, 19, featured in all three of Costa Rica’s World Cup group stage games – although he wasn’t included in their Gold Cup squad earlier this summer through injury.
The game with South Korea, meanwhile, will likely see Spurs star Son Heung-Min captain his nation. Kim Min-jae, who was heavily-linked with a move to Newcastle United earlier this summer before moving to Bayern Munich from Napoli, could also feature against the Green Falcons.
Saudi Arabia, who defeated eventual world champions Argentina in their opening game of the 2022 World Cup, are currently ranked 54th in the FIFA World Rankings, sandwiched in between the Republic of Ireland and Finland. The two matches involving Saudi Arabia will be the first international games to be held at the stadium since St James’ Park staged games at the London 2012 Olympics.
Neymar, who is close to completing a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, featured in those games for his country. St James’ Park hasn’t hosted the England men’s national team since a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan in March 2005 where goals from Steven Gerrard and David Beckham sealed the victory for the Three Lions.
