Wherever you looked there were Premier League stars on international duty on Wednesday. Aside from the home internationals, here's a summary of their combined efforts.

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien had a mixed evening as Ghana lost 2-1 to Mexico at Fulham's Craven Cottage.

After driving home his eighth international goal to put Ghana ahead, Essien's woeful backpass invited Carlos Salcido to slot Mexico's equaliser 20 minutes later.

Mexico won the game with a late penalty, the award of which earned Premier League referee Rob Styles harsh criticism from Ghana coach Claude Leroy.

Meanwhile, Fulham's Carlos Bocanegra was on target as the USA romped to an impressive 3-0 win in Poland.

Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner was another Premier League star on the scoresheet, as Denmark drew 1-1 with Czech Republic. The 20-year-old striker played a neat one-two with Thomas Kristensen before firing home after 25 minutes.

There was bad news for Mark Hughes as Roque Santa Cruz sustained an ankle injury during Paraguay's 3-0 defeat to South Africa. The Blackburn manager is unlikely best pleased with another of his charges, Aaron Mokoena, whose tackle did the damage.

A medical report will determine whether Santa Cruz plays in Saturday's Premier League clash with Reading.

The same game saw Rovers' Benny McCarthy grab his 30th international goal - taking him ahead of Shaun Bartlett to become South Africa's most prolific marksmen.

Liverpool's Fernando Torres and Alvaro Arbeloa, as well as Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, turned out as Spain beat world champions Italy 1-0.

Brazil were helped to a 1-0 win against Sweden at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium by a healthy Premier League contingent.

Home favourite Gilberto was among those in action. The Arsenal star received a considerably warmer reception than Manchester United midfielder Anderson -who was booed with every touch after his introduction as a substitute.

For Sweden, Aston Villa's Olof Mellberg, Fulham's Freddie Ljungberg, and Arsenal's Sebastian Larsson all featured.

Goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson was the standout Premier League performer, however, making a string of good saves and remaining unbeaten - Brazil scored as a result of a mistake from his replacement, Rami Shaaban.

Germany's 3-0 defeat of Austria brought Arsenal's Jens Lehmann a clean sheet, though he was saved by a dramatic goal-line clearance early on.

Liverpool's Yossi Benayoun scored with a quickly-taken free-kick to give Israel a 1-0 home win against Chile.

Finally, Portugal - who were without Manchester United's Nani and Ronaldo - fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Greece. Chelsea's Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho both played.

Will Tidey / Eurosport