So the internationals are over, England messed up spectacularly, Scotland were cruelly denied and Northern Ireland fell at the last hurdle as well, meaning that next summer’s European Championships finals will not contain any British representatives.

But more importantly, what of our players? Here’s what happened.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the best part of a week, Michael Owen faces up to six weeks on the sidelines, after suffering a thigh injury during England’s friendly against Austria in Vienna last friday. According to the club, he has travelled to Germany to recieve treatment. Alan Smith, who was also included in the England squad for the games against Austria and Croatia didn’t feature in either match.

Shay Given came through unscathed in the Republic of Ireland’s 2-2 draw against Wales in Cardiff last Saturday. The Irish had no match last night.

While Newcastle’s English and Irish internationals will not be involved at the Euros next summer, David Rozehnal will be involved, as he featured in the Czech Republic side which beat Slovakia 3-1 in Prague last saturday, before winning 2-0 in Cyprus last night.

Emre should also be involved next summer with Turkey, who won 2-1 in Oslo against Norway and then beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 last night in Istanbul.

Obafemi Martins featured for Nigeria in their 1-0 defeat to Australia at Craven Cottage last saturday. However, due to a Visa problem, he was not a part of the Super Eagles squad that beat Switzerland 1-0 in Zurich on Tuesday.

Habib Beye played in both of Senegal’s Paris-based friendlies, beating Mali 3-2 on Saturday, before going down 3-0 to Morocco on Tuesday.

James Milner and Steven Taylor featured in both of the England Under 21 games, with Milner scoring an 82 minute penalty to seal a 2-0 victory for the Under 21s over their Bulgarian counterparts in Milton Keynes on Friday evening. Meanwhile, Taylor has caused a bit of a headache for Allardyce, as he aggrevated a back problem he’d picked up on Friday night and ended up having to be substituted at half time during Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw against Portugal’s Under 21s in Agueda.

Charles N’Zogbia played the full 90 minutes during France Under 21’s 4-2 victory iover Wales at Cardfii City’s Ninian Park on Tuesday.

James Troisi was involved in Olympic qualifying action for Australia’s Under 23 side. The Aussies beat Iraq 2-0 in Gosford near Sydney on Saturday and then drew 1-1 in Pyongyang aginst North Korea to gain the point which secures the Socceroos’ representation at the Beijing Olympics next year.