Heartbreak for Sheffield Wednesday's international as nation crash out of competition

The 19-year-old Owl is currently away with Zimbabwe in South Africa as they take part in the COSAFA Cup, and on Sunday he played his part in helping them see out a 2-0 win over reigning champions, Zambia, to finish the weekend top of Group B.

Phuthi was a second half substitute as he came on in the 78th minute to get some more experience under his belt at international level, and he had plenty of the ball as he bombed up and down the right wing in search of a third goal.

Victory meant that they headed into their final group game against Kenya this afternoon with six points to their name and an opportunity to make it a clean sweep - Phuthi will have been hoping that he did enough last time out to be considered for a potential starting berth, however Jairos Tapera opted to make only a couple of changes and the young Owl remained on the bench.

Zimbabwe needed just a point to top their group and progress into the semifinals of the competition, and even defeat could have seen them through as long as Comoros didn’t beat Zambia... However they fell to a 2-0 defeat and Comoros came out victorious in their game, so Phuthi and his Warriors fell from first to third and dropped out. He didn’t manage to get on the pitch in Gqeberha.

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Meanwhile, the weekend also saw Di’Shon Bernard’s summer at international level come to an end as he remained an unused substitution in Jamaica’s defeat to Venezuela, their Copa America coming to an end with a 3-0 defeat in Austin, Texas.

Bernard will now turn his attention to what happens with his future after seeing his Owls contract expire this week, and the Wednesday boss, Danny Röhl, is still hopeful that they can get a deal done that will see him remain at Hillsborough.