Mario Lemina played the full 90 minutes as Gabon kept themselves on track for qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations on Friday.
The Wolves skipper – who is now on 32 international caps – also captained his country for their home qualifier with Lesotho, playing in the centre of a midfield three and impressing for the dominant hosts, who were made to settle for a point.
Despite Gabon enjoying 72% of the possession, they couldn’t turn that control into chances and were held to a goalless draw which keeps them second and on course for qualification.
They look set for a straight battle with Central African Republic, with Morocco already in control in first place, so victory in the return tie in Lesotho on Tuesday will be crucial for Lemina and Gabon.
On Saturday Wolves defender Santiago Bueno earned his fifth Uruguay cap, but it brought about only a second defeat of their World Cup qualifying campaign to Peru.
Bueno played the full 90 on the left of a back three, alongside new Manchester United man Manuel Ugarte, and put in a solid performance in a tight contest in Lima.
However, a goal two minutes from time by Peru’s Miguel Araujo won the game for the hosts. Uruguay are now sat in third, but remain on course for the World Cup, currently better positioned than Brazil and Ecuador.
In Europe, Norway suffered a night to forget in the Nations League, going down 5-1 in Austria, with Jorgen Strand Larsen only featuring for the final six minutes.
With the tie level at the break, Austria took control after the break, meaning the game was effectively done when the Wolves man came on with the scoring already complete.
That result leaves the group in the balance, with Austria, Norway and Slovenia all tied on seven points. Norway are currently second, which qualifies them for a promotion play-off, but the November fixtures will be telling,
Meanwhile, Portugal continued their perfect start to their Nations League campaign with three points in Poland and Nelson Semedo was used off the bench in the closing stages of the 3-1 win.
With Portugal 2-1 up at the time, Semedo replaced former Old Gold man Pedro Neto with eight minutes remaining and the victory was made more comfortable soon after thanks to Jan Bednarek’s own goal.
Portugal have won three from three and travel to Hampden Park in Glasgow on Tuesday, having beaten Scotland on home soil in September.
Staying with Portugal, Rodrigo Gomes and Carlos Forbs were both in action for their under-21 side Friday, as they beat Faroe Islands.
Fabio Silva – currently on loan from Wolves to Las Palmas – equalised for Portugal, after Faroe Islands had taken a shock lead after three minutes, with Gomes and Forbs on the bench to begin with.
However, both came on around the hour mark, with the score still level, and Portugal went on to win 3-1, with Gabriel Bras and Paulo Bernardo scoring in the final three minutes.
Semedo is the only man left to play in Europe when Portugal face Scotland on Tuesday evening, while Andre and Brazil take on Peru on Wednesday in Brasilia and Bueno will face Ecuador in Uruguay on the same day.
Hee Chan Hwang was due to face Iraq on Tuesday, but his injury will need to be assessed. Rayan Ait-Nouri and Algeria meet Togo on Monday and Lemina’s Gabon take on Lesotho once more on Tuesday.
Finally, Gomes and Forbs have a meeting with Andorra on Tuesday as part of their Portugal under-21 commitments.
