International round-up: Germany beat Spain 1-0 and Portugal sink Argentina by same scoreline

Posted Wednesday, November 19, 2014 by skysports.com

World champions Germany beat European champions Spain 1-0 in Tuesday night's friendly, while Portugal defeated Argentina 1-0 at Old Trafford.

Spain attacked more in the incessant Vigo rain, but they were unable to find a way through against the nation who replaced them as champions of the world in July.

International round-up: Germany beat Spain 1-0 and Portugal sink Argentina by same scoreline
Toni Kroos (2nd r): Scored the winner against Spain

With both coaches fielding experimental sides, and in view of the difficult conditions, the game did not turn out to be a classic between the two nations, but Germany nevertheless managed to emerge triumphant with Kroos' 89th-minute winner.

Lionel Messi outshone his Ballon d'Or rival Cristiano Ronaldo but the latter's team took the spoils as a late header from substitute Raphael Guerreiro snatched a 1-0 win for Portugal over Argentina in a disappointing friendly at Old Trafford.

The fixture had been billed pre-match as an unmissable showdown between Messi and Ronaldo - a spectacle that turned out only to last until half time, when both players were substituted in somewhat anti-climactic circumstances.

A double from captain Wayne Rooney helped England to a 3-1 win over Scotland at Celtic Park.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain headed England in front in the 32nd minute and Rooney added a second two minutes into the second half.

Andy Robertson threatened to set up a frantic finish with an 82nd minute strike for Scotland, but Rooney settled it almost immediately after.

Raphael Varane's 83rd minute header was enough to give France a 1-0 win over Sweden, sparing the blushes of Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema, who missed a penalty three minutes later.

Stefano Okaka headed home in the 82nd minute as Italy edged out Albania 1-0.

A change in the dugout did nothing to alter Greece's fortunes as they suffered another home defeat, losing 2-0 to Serbia.

Kostas Tsanas was named as the interim boss after Claudio Ranieri's departure following the shock Euro 2016 qualifying defeat to the Faroe Islands last week, but Greece once again ended up on the losing end thanks to second-half goals from Radosav Petrovic and Nemanja Gudelj.

Brazil continued their winning start under new coach Dunga with a 2-1 friendly victory over Austria in Vienna.

International round-up: Germany beat Spain 1-0 and Portugal sink Argentina by same scoreline
Brazil's defender David Luiz

Robert Firmino's stunning late strike won it after David Luiz's opener had been cancelled out by Aleksandar Dragovic's penalty.

Russia shrugged off the speculation surrounding coach Fabio Capello's future to record a 2-1 away win in Hungary with goals from Sergei Ignashevich and Alexsandr Kerzhakov.

Robbie Brady scored twice as late goals added a gloss to the Republic of Ireland's 4-1 win over the United States.

International round-up: Germany beat Spain 1-0 and Portugal sink Argentina by same scoreline
Republic of Ireland's Robbie Brady celebrates his goal with team-mate David Meyler

Mix Diskerud cancelled out Anthony Pilkington's opener before Brady restored the home side's lead 10 minutes into the second half. James McClean and Brady then scored in the final 10 minutes.

Fabian Frei scored in the 87th minute to earn Switzerland a 2-2 draw with the 10 men of Poland, who had Michal Zyro sent off.

Belarus came from behind with second-half goals to beat Mexico 3-2, with Pavel Nekhaychik scoring the winner nine minutes from time, while Adrian Ramos' 43rd minute goal condemned Slovenia to a 1-0 home loss against Colombia.

Estonia beat Jordan through Henri Anier's 16th minute goal and Claudiu Keseru scored two goals in the space of six second-half minutes to give Romania a 2-0 win over Denmark.

Early goals from Filip Holosko and Marek Hamsik set up Slovakia for a 2-1 win over Finland, while Ukraine and Lithuania played out a 0-0 draw.

Japan recorded a 2-1 win over Australia on the back of second-half strikes from Yasuyuki Konno and and Shinji Okazaki.