A packed programme of international fixtures saw a number of sides in action on Wednesday.
Wins for Argentina, Portugal, Holland, USA and Egypt
A packed programme of international fixtures saw a number of sides in action on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi bagged a superb injury-time winner as
Argentina overcame South American rivals
Brazil 1-0 in a friendly in Doha.
The diminutive forward dribbled past two defenders and squeezed a shot into the corner of the goal to earn his side a dramatic win.
Dani Alves had previously struck the bar for Brazil and Ronaldinho's back-heel was saved, but Messi had the last laugh.
Portugal avenged their World Cup defeat as they thrashed neighbours
Spain 4-0 at the Estadio da Luz.
The world champions earned a 1-0 victory in South Africa earlier in the year but were undone by a goal from Carlos Martins on the stroke of half-time.
Sporting striker Helder Postiga then completed the rout by bagging a second-half brace before Hugo Almeida put the icing on the cake late on.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored the only goal of the game as
Holland beat
Turkey 1-0 in the Amsterdam Arena.
Without first-team regulars Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt, Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong, Huntelaar was once again the match-winner for the Dutch with his ninth goal in his last five international matches proving the difference between the sides.
Germany ended 2010 with a dour 0-0 draw against
Sweden as manager Joachim Low gave four players their debuts.
Mesut Ozil, Thomas Mueller, Miroslav Klose and Philipp Lahm were all rested as Bastian Schweinsteiger captained the side.
Hero to villain
Romania striker Ciprian Marica scored at both ends in a 1-1 draw with a disjointed
Italy as Cristian Chivu became the latest Inter Milan player to suffer an injury.
Marica grabbed a deserved opener after 34 minutes when he rifled in following a spot of pinball in the box but he deflected in substitute Fabio Quagliarella's header following a corner eight minutes from time.
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli handed debuts to four players, including Argentina-born midfielder Cristian Ledesma, but the experimental line-up meant there was little fluency or cohesion, while Mario Balotelli was the subject of racist chanting in Klagenfurt.
Chile overcame South American rivals and World Cup semi-finalists
Uruguay 2-0 to give outgoing boss Marco Bielsa a winning send-off.
Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal scored the goals after Walter Gargano was sent off for a second caution just before half-time.
Australia were on the receiving end of a convincing 3-0 defeat to African champions
Egypt in Cairo.
The Socceroos produced a woeful display as they continued their preparations for the 2011 Asian Cup in January, as goals from Ahmed Abd El-Zaher, Gedo and a late Mohamed Zidan penalty put their defence to the sword.
Teenage debutant Juan Agudelo struck five minutes from time to hand the
United States a 1-0 win over
South Africa in Cape Town.
Agudelo scored from close range to condemn South Africa to their first loss in four matches since hosting the World Cup.
Neither
Denmark nor the
Czech Republic could break the deadlock as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw and it was the same scoreline as
Luxembourg held
Algeria to a goalless stalemate.
Alexander Frei bagged a brace but it was not enough for the win as
Switzerland drew 2-2 with
Ukraine.
The Basel striker found the back of the net either side of half-time but Oleksandr Aliyev and Yevgen Konoplyanka were both on target for the away side.
Poland ended a run of eight games without a win as the Euro 2012 co-hosts beat the
Ivory Coast 3-1.
Robert Lewandowski (2) and Ludovic Obraniac were on target for the Poles, with Gervinho netting for the Elephants.
Greece picked up a 2-1 triumph in
Austria although they hit the winner with just nine minutes remaining.
Georgios Samaras opened the scoring four minutes after the break but Christian Fuchs equalised before Giorgos Fotakis netted in the 81st minute.
Dick Advocaat's
Russia suffered a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to
Belgium thanks to an impressive brace from Romelu Lukaku.
The Anderlecht striker opened the scoring in the second minute, rolling the ball into an empty net, and then secured the victory with an excellent individual effort in the second half.
Thrilling
Bosnia came away with an away win after a thrilling 3-2 encounter against
Slovakia.
Filip Sebo put Slovakia ahead after just three minutes but Haris Medunjanin equalised before Miralem Pjanic gave the visitors the lead after the break.
Edin Dzeko gave Bosnia breathing space and while substitute Peter Grajciar pulled one back for Slovakia, the hosts could not find a telling third.
Birmingham City striker Nikola Zigic was the only scorer as
Serbia managed a 1-0 win in
Bulgaria.
The tall forward broke the deadlock with 10 minutes remaining and the hosts could not manage an equaliser.
Meanwhile,
Slovenia were surprisingly beaten 2-1 at home by European minnows
Georgia, despite taking the lead.
Bostjan Cesar opened the scoring in the 51st minute but quickfire second-half strikes from Aleksandr Guruli and Zhano Ananidze turned the tie around.
Roque Santa Cruz helped put himself in the shop window with a brace in
Paraguay's 7-0 win over
Hong Kong.
The former Blackburn and Bayern Munich man made the most of some rare playing time by helping his country to a comfortable victory in Hong Kong.
Santa Cruz started the friendly and scored either side of an Edgar Barreto strike to give Paraguay a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Jose Ortigoza then claimed a second-half brace for the World Cup quarter-finalists, while goals by Marcos Riveros and Sunderland midfielder Cristian Riveros completed the rout.
