Tal Ben Haim got a full 90 minutes under his belt as Israel got their UEFA Euro 2012 campaign off to a solid start with a 3-1 home win against Malta.
The defender, who made his West Ham United debut a week ago against Oxford United in the Carling Cup, was not the only Premier League performer on view and it was former Hammers midfielder Yossi Benayoun who stole the show with a hat-trick. Ben Haim and Benayoun could come face to face on Saturday week when Chelsea arrive at the Boleyn Ground.
Israel are the early Group F pace-setters as a result of their success at the Ramat-Gan Stadium. They are back in qualifying action on Tuesday night when they go to Tbilisi to take on Georgia. Croatia, Greece and Latvia round out a competitive section where Israel will hope to progress to their first ever finals when they are played in two summers' time in Ukraine and Poland.
Ben Haim is one of a number of Hammers away on international duty with their respective countries this week.
Matthew Upson and Carlton Cole will both hope to be involved when England begin their own UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying campaign with a Group G qualifier against Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday evening.
Unfortunately, the pair have been denied an international meeting with club-mate Valon Behrami after the midfielder was left out of the Switzerland squad for their Group G meeting with England in Basel on Tuesday night.
Behrami, who has recently returned to full training following an injury picked up on international duty last month, will also miss Friday's friendly meeting with Switzerland in St Gallen.
Herita Ilunga's DR Congo will play host to Senegal in the country's opening 2012 CAF Africa Cup of Nations Group E qualifier in Lumbumbashi on 5 September. DR Congo will also face Cameroon and Mauritius in qualifying.
Further afield, Pablo Barrera is in Mexico's squad for a friendly meeting with Ecuador in Guadalajara on Saturday 4 September and Colombia in Monterrey on Tuesday 7 September.
At Under-21 level, Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson is in Iceland's squad for their UEFA European U21 Championship Group 5 qualifier with Czech Republic in Jablonec nad Nisou on Tuesday week. Coached by Eyjolfsson's father Eyjolfur Sverrisson, Iceland are in with a chance of qualifying for the finals for the first time in their history and could clinch at least a play-off place by beating the Czechs.
To do so, they may have to find their way past Hammers goalkeeper Marek Stech, who has been called up to the Czech Republic U21 squad for their European Championship Group 5 qualifiers against Germany in Mlada Boleslav on Friday, as well as the meeting with Iceland four days later.