Both Rodrigo Gomes and Carlos Forbs got minutes in their legs for Portugal’s under-21s on Friday evening.
With both trying to impress Gary O’Neil at club level, and having had limited opportunities off the bench recently, the chance to play 45 minutes each will have been a boost to the pair of youngsters.
Portugal’s under-21s were facing Ukraine in a friendly and Gomes showed his versatility by playing the first 45 minutes at right-back, during an opening period where Portugal took a commanding 3-1 lead.
He was one of eight half-time withdrawals, with Fabio Silva another, and Forbs moved in the opposite direction, playing the second half where Portugal were pegged back to 3-3.
Elsewhere, Jorgen Strand Larsen was also in action over the weekend, coming off the bench as Norway put five past Kazakhstan to earn promotion to the second level of the Nations League.
The Wolves attacker bagged himself an assist too, teeing up Antonio Nusa to score the final goal in Norway’s comfortable 5-0 win, in which Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick.
Wolves skipper Mario Lemina was also representing his country over the weekend but was on the wrong end of a heavy defeat to Morocco in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group.
Gabon took a fourth minute lead through Denis Bouanga, but Morocco were in control at the break at 3-1 and added a further two goals to solidify their place at the top of the group after it.
Gabon are still in course to qualify in second, however, and one point against Central Africa Republic this week will see them finish ahead of Lesotho as the group’s runners up.
Both Jose Sa and Nelson Semedo had a watching brief on Friday evening, as Portugal put five past Poland to secure top spot and book their place in the Nations League knockout stage.
The Wolves pair were unused substitutes as Portugal scored five second half goals to win 5-1 and leave them on 13 points – six ahead of second – before the final match of the group against Croatia on Monday.
Matt Doherty was also watching from the side on Sunday evening, as 10-man Republic of Ireland were comprehensively beaten by England at Wembley.
The full-back watched on as England scored five second half goals and Ireland, who finished third in the group, will now face a play-off in the spring to avoid relegation to the third tier of the Nations League.
Another full-back Rayan Ait-Nouri was also given the night off as Algeria cruised to a 5-1 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win over Liberia on Sunday.
Algeria had to come from behind but did so in style to finish their successful qualifying campaign on top spot with 16 points from six matches.
Goalkeeper Tom King was in his nation’s squad over the weekend but remained on the bench. King was an unused substitute as Wales drew 0-0 in Turkey, with the hosts missing a late penalty in Kayseri.
That draw keeps Wales’ hopes of automatic promotion to the top tier of the Nations League alive. They must beat Iceland on Tuesday and hope Montenegro surprise Turkey with a result at the same time. The Turks lead Wales by two points currently.
Santiago Bueno has been a regular in O’Neil’s Wolves 11 in recent weeks but missed Uruguay’s 3-2 win over Colombia on Saturday through injury and is set to be absent once again when they face Brazil on Tuesday.
Uruguay are well on their way to qualifying for the World Cup, sitting second only to Argentina and two points ahead of Brazil ahead of their meeting in Salvador this week.
Still to come this week, Sa and Semedo will hope for minutes against Croatia on Monday, while King’s Wales take on Iceland in Cardiff.
Gabon’s important Central Africa Republic tie comes on Monday, while Andre and Brazil lock horns with Uruguay, likely to be without Bueno, on Tuesday.
Finally, Portugal under-21s are again in friendly action and Gomes and Forbs will look for more opportunities to impress against Slovakia.
