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FIFA Friendly Rewind: Messi powers Argentina, Portugal rips Spain and more

MessiBrazil (GettyImages) 

By IAN HOLLIDAY

One memorable moment of last-minute brilliance from Lionel Messi was enough to give Argentina the win in an otherwise forgetable match against archrivals Brazil in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday. In the 91st minute, Messi collected the ball 40 yards from goal and began one of his signature runs through the Brazil defense before finishing on a low, hard, left-footed strike across his body. The 1-0 win was Messi's first for Argentina against the Selecao.

Elsewhere, Fabio Capello's somewhat-experimental England side fell to France 2-1 at Wembley. The visitors enjoyed the majority of possession and built a 2-0 lead before second-half substitute Peter Crouch got one back for the home side.

Wednesday's biggest surprise was Portugal's 4-0 drubbing of reigning World Cup champions Spain. Despite being out-possessed 70 percent to 30, Portugal made their chances count, getting a brace from Helder Postiga sandwiched between goals from Carlos Martins and Hugo Almeida.

Wednesday also featured a pair of Euro 2012 qualifiers: Croatia defeated Malta 3-0 in Group F, while Finland logged the day's biggest blowout, demolishing lowly San Marino 8-0 in Group E.

Here is a rundown of all of the international friendly results from Tuesday and Wednesday:

INTERNATIONAL RESULTS

Argentina 1, Brazil 0

England 1, France 2

Portugal 4, Spain 0

Jordan 0, Cyprus 0

Scotland 3, Faroe Islands 0

China 1, Latvia 0

Hong Kong 0, Paraguay 7

Iran 0, Nigeria 0

Montenegro 2, Azerbaijan 0

Oman 0, Belarus 4

Russia 0, Belgium 2

Slovakia 2, Bosnia-Herzegovinia 3

Albania 0, Macedonia 0

Bulgaria 0, Serbia 1

Hungary 2, Lithuania 0

Egypt 3, Austrailia 0

Israel 3, Iceland 2

Estonia 1, Liechtenstein 1

Denmark 0, Czech Republic 0

Luxembourg 0, Algeria 0

Switzerland 2, Ukraine 2

Austria 1, Greece 2

Netherlands 1, Turkey 0

Poland 3, Ivory Coast 1

Romania 1, Italy 1

South Africa 0, United States 1

Sweden 0, Germany 0

Ireland 1, Norway 2

Northern Ireland 1, Morocco 1

Slovenia 1, Georgia 2

Chile 2, Uruguay 0

Colombia 1, Peru 1

Ecuador 4, Venezuela 1

Jamaica 0, Costa Rica 0

Panama 2, Honduras 0

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What did you think of this week's international friendly results? Surprised by Spain's loss? Impressed by Portugal? Amazed by Messi? Share your thoughts below:

Comments

  1. Nani did look onside to me but apparently not to the ref. , the highlight i saw also it looked like the ball was already across the line.

    there is no question in my mind tho that for that move nani deserves a poop cake with a pink candle in it for his birthday

    Reply
  2. I watched a few friendlies yesterday and they almost all were ‘walk throughs’.

    The expectations on portugual vs spain was very high (for me). Because of the history, regional proximity, who knows?

    But, this was a great game. The first have was end to end. Portugal just simply dominated. Second have had far too many subs and the game broke down.

    Great result for portgual (and spain was trying hard to ‘keep up’)

    Reply
  3. hahaha yeah, what was Nani thinking?? It was obviously going in he had to jump into the goal to head it.. Oh well in the end 4 goals was enough.

    Reply
  4. Did anyone see the Ronaldo Goal that was called back? Ronaldo incredible as usual did a beautiful chip of the goalie. Right as the ball was crossing the goaline Nani runs in and heads it. Problem is Nani was totally offside and The goal was called off. That would have made it 1-0 at th 40 min mark.
    I’ve never seen a better face from Ronaldo right after.

    Reply

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