Valon Behrami figured as Switzerland cruised to a 4-1 home victory against Cyprus on Wednesday night while Matthew Upson had a watching brief with England.
Summer signing Behrami was in the starting lineup for the Swiss in Geneva and while he was not on the scoresheet he played the whole game. Valentin Stocker, a 19-year-old midfielder, got the ball rolling before veteran playmaker Hakan Yakin doubled the advantage. Alain Nef and Johan Vonlanthen, with Behrami playing a part in his stunning goal, added to the score late on to give new coach Ottmar Hitzfield a winning start.
Upson was an unused substitute as England drew 2-2 at home to the Czech Republic at Wembley, with Jonathan Woodgate getting a chance off the bench when Rio Ferdinand made way. Milan Baros put the visitors in front before Wes Brown equalised just before half-time with a thumping header. Marek Jankulovski then restored the Czech lead with a superb free-kick three minutes after the interval. Joe Cole then scrambled in a last-gasp equaliser to ensure it finished all-square.
Elsewhere, the sidelined Jack Collison would have been frustrated by Wales Under-21s 1-0 home defeat by Romania that has handed the Group 10 qualifying initiative for the 2009 European Championship to their visitors. The two teams will meet again on 9 September, three days after Romania go to Bosnia-Herzegovina. If Wales finish second in the group they will hope to be one of the four best runners-up in qualifying to join the ten group winners in October's seven-match play-offs for the finals.
Finally, Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson got another game for Iceland Under-21s, who are well out of the reckoning for next summer's U21 final round in Sweden. Still only 17, he played in the 2-0 home friendly defeat by Denmark in Reykjavik with the visitors scoring a goal in each half.