With the October international break coming to a close and Premier League football making its return this weekend, West Ham United travel to North London with a fierce London derby ahead.
However, during this international break, the Hammers had a whopping nine players absent from Rush Green as many headed abroad to represent their country in either the Nations League, World Cup qualifiers or AFCON qualifiers.
With key players such as Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus away on international duty, we take a look into how they got on whilst representing their countries.
Brazil - Lucas Paqueta
Once again called up to the Brazil national team, Lucas Paqueta was named in the starting lineup vs Chile, partnered alongside fellow Premier League player and Wolves midfielder Andre.
Contributing very little to the game, West Ham’s “Brazilian magnifico” found himself subbed off at half-time, with his only influence on the proceedings being his name taken in the referees book after a very underwhelming 45 minutes for the Brazilian.
Brazil went on to win the game 2-1 with a late goal from Luis Henrique saving the day for “The Selecao”.
Mexico - Edson Alvarez
Making his return to the national team since sustaining a hamstring injury 30 minutes into Mexicos Copa America opener vs Jamaica in late June, Alvarez was back to his best, playing a full 90 minutes against the United States in a 2-0 win for the El Tri.
Greece - Konstantinos Mavropanos
Another player who seemed to impress over the international break was Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Recently secluded to the bench under West Ham United manager Julen Lopetegui, Mavropanos found himself back playing first team football, starting in Greeces back line vs England.
Thinking he had scored the goal to give Greece a 1-0 lead, both Marvropanos and the Greece team were disappointed to see that the goal had been disallowed for offside - reverting the score back to 0-0.
However this did not fault neither his or the Greece teams performance as they went on to win the game 2-1 late on in the 94th minute - the Greeks’ first victory over England in their history.
Although “Dinos’” fun did not end there as 3 days later, he went on to play Ireland, winning the game 2-0 and keeping a clean sheet in what was another spectacular performance from the Greek in defence.
Ghana - Mohammed Kudus
Leading the Black Stars out of the tunnel vs Sudan, West Ham star-man Mohammed Kudus had the honour of captaining his nation in an AFCON qualifier at only the age of 24.
The Ghanaian continued to show off his flair at times throughout the match, but couldn’t handle the big occasion, missing a sitter in the 87th minute to win the game - gently tapping the ball into the hands of the Sudan keeper, finishing the game 0-0.
5 days later, Kudus found himself staring against Sudan once again, playing a full 90 minutes but yet again failing to score as Sudan got the better of the black starts, beating them 2-0 - Ghana now unable to qualify for next years AFCON tournament.
Jamaica - Michail Antonio
Scoring his first goal of the season against Ipswich town just before the international break, Antonio found himself once again called up to represent the Reggae Boys.
Benched for the full 90 in a 2-0 win against Nicaragua, the Hammers number 9 then played 83 minutes upfront vs Honduras in a 0-0 draw - one step closer to qualifying for AFCON.
Czech Republic - Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal
Starting both games against Albania and Ukraine, West Ham’s very own “Czech mates” continued to impress for their country in the Nations League group stage.
Captaining the Czech Republic once again, Tomas Soucek put in yet again another solid performance in midfield whilst his “partner in crime” Vladimir Coufal, assisted Tomas Chory in Czechia’s 2-0 win v Albania - also keeping a clean sheet.
Scotland - Andy Irving
Earning his first national call up for Scotland, Andy Irving was sidelined to the bench for both games against Croatia and Portugal.
France - Alphonse Areola
Similarly to fellow Hammer Andy Irving, Alphonse Areola also watched both of his nations games from the dugout - selected as second choice keeper behind the fantastic Mike Maignan who continues to impress in goal for France.
