How Hearts players fared as a Wolves loanee creates history on international weekend

Ten current Hearts players were on international duty over the weekend but one in particular stood out with a historic goal for his country. Dexter Lembikisa, the Wolverhampton Wanderers defender on loan at Tynecastle Park, struck a sublime winner for Jamaica in their CONCACAF Nations League victory over Panama.

The 1-0 scoreline secured third place for the Reggae Boyz, their highest ever finish in the competition, as Lembikisa celebrated his first goal at international level. He ventured an advanced midfield position from his wing-back role after 41 minutes of the tie in Arlington, Texas. After controlling a forward ball and producing a stepover to evade an opponent, he lashed an unstoppable left-footed strike into the top corner of the net from around 22 yards.

"I saw Bobby [De Cordova-Reid] dropping deep," explained Lembikisa afterwards. "I knew there was going to be space in the pocket and then Heccy [Michael Hector] found me with a good pass. Luckily, I got a foot to it and then I saw I was in an attacking position, which I'm not normally. I took a step over it and went on my left, trusted my left to take the shot and scored."

Third place is a consolation for the Jamaicans after a 3-1 defeat by the United States in the semi-finals last Thursday. "It's an amazing push for us and for the nation to show what we can do in a tournament," added Lembikisa. "We were unlucky against USA, we just couldn't quite keep it in the end. Although we were disappointed because we wanted to go to the final, finishing strong is always good. We know this is a great push in the right direction for Jamaica, going into World Cup qualifiers and the Copa America."

Hearts' Scotland trio of Craig Gordon, Zander Clark and Lawrence Shankland were involved in Friday's 4-0 friendly defeat by the Netherlands. Shankland played from the start in Amsterdam and delivered a good performance in the striker role. However, he would have been disappointed to miss a second-half chance when one-on-one with the Dutch goalkeeper Mark Flekken. Gordon and Clark were unused substitutes and will hope for some game time in Tuesday's friendly with Northern Ireland at Hampden.

Another Tynecastle player celebrating his first international goal was Kye Rowles. The centre-back scored Australia's second in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Lebanon in Sydney. Fellow Hearts defender Nathaniel Atkinson also played from the start in that tie and both are expected to be involved against the same opponents in Canberra on Tuesday.

Toby Sibbick was a substitute for Uganda as they lost 4-0 to Comoros in an international friendly. The Hearts defender earned his first call-up for the country of his mother's birth and is now preparing for Uganda's second friendly against Ghana in Marrakech on Tuesday.

Costa Rica's Kenneth Vargas was a late substitute in their 3-1 CONCACAF Nations League win against Honduras on Saturday. He will be eager to play from the start on Wednesday when the Central Americans take on World Champions Argentina in a friendly in Los Angeles.

Hearts midfielders Aidan Denholm and MacAulay Tait have also been away with younger Scotland teams. Denholm was an unused substitute in Thursday's 4-1 European Under-21 Championship qualifying victory against Kazakhstan in Paisley. Also on the bench was defender Lewis Neilson, who is currently on loan at Partick Thistle from Hearts.

Tait featured in both of Scotland Under-19s' European Championship Elite Round ties in Italy. He replaced Lennon Miller in the dying moments of last Wednesday's 3-1 defeat by the Italians and then played from the start in Saturday's 3-2 loss against Georgia. The young Scots have one more match to play, which is on Tuesday against Czech Republic.