Football
ESPN staff 6y

Ronaldo outshines Salah, Messi-less Argentina win and Spain-Germany draw

Cristiano Ronaldo scored two stoppage-time headers as Portugal came from behind to win 2-1 against Egypt, who had taken the lead though Mohamed Salah's second-half strike.

Salah brought his superb domestic form to the international arena during a lively showing, and opened the scoring in the 56th minute with a sharp left-footed finish from the edge of the area.

Egypt, demonstrating superb defensive discipline under Argentine coach Hector Cuper, looked primed to hold on for a famous victory until Ronaldo's late intervention.

The Real Madrid man first met a Ricardo Quaresma cross in the 92nd minute to head home past the previously excellent Ahmed El-Shenawy, who fumbled the ball over his line.

Moments later, he added a second when he again rose to divert a free kick into the far corner, to seal the win.

With the brace, Ronaldo moved into third place all-time with 81 international goals -- past Japan's Kunishige Kamamoto and behind only Iran's Ali Daei (109) and Hungary's Ferenc Puskas (84).

Lionel Messi watched from the stands as Argentina began their World Cup build-up with a lacklustre 2-0 win over Italy at the Etihad Stadium.

Ever Banega and Manuel Lanzini both struck in the latter stages to put some gloss on an otherwise underwhelming performance.

Messi, the chief attraction for the majority in attendance at Manchester City's half-full arena, did not feature and sat up high alongside another missing attraction in the injured Sergio Aguero.

The game did liven up in the second half but neither side over-exerted themselves.

Italy, looking to rebuild after their failure to qualify for Russia 2018, threatened only in flashes and their best player was arguably veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Thomas Muller's thunderous equaliser ensured the heavyweight friendly showdown between Germany and Spain finished 1-1 in Dusseldorf.

Rodrigo gave Spain an early lead in the battle between the last two World Cup winners but Muller levelled things up before half-time with a 25-yard shot that flew beyond David De Gea and into the top corner.

Both teams had chances to win the game, with Germany defender Mats Hummels hitting the crossbar and opposing goalkeepers De Gea and Marc-Andre ter Stegen cementing their reputations as two of the best stoppers on the planet, but no more goals were forthcoming as the match finished 1-1.

England capped a promising display with a deserved victory as an experimental side secured a 1-0 victory over Netherlands thanks to Jesse Lingard's first international goal.

Time is running out for players to prove their worth with the World Cup just three months away, while England boss Gareth Southgate does not have many more opportunities to tweak things ahead of the opener against Tunisia.

With that in mind eyebrows were raised with some selections for the final game on foreign soil before heading to Russia, but England looked confident against one of the most notable World Cup absentees as Lingard's maiden goal secured a 1-0 win.

Juan Fernando Quintero's late penalty saw Colombia come from 2-0 down to stun France 3-2 in Paris.

The hosts were cruising after 26 minutes thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Thomas Lemar, but Colombia were much the better team in the second half.

Luis Muriel had pulled one back before the break and Radamel Falcao levelled after the hour. Then with only five minutes left, Quintero scored from the spot after a foul by Samuel Umtiti.

Brazil began life without Neymar with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Russia in an international friendly on Friday.

The PSG star is back in Brazil as he recovers from surgery on a broken bone in his right foot, but his Selecao teammates picked up the slack and scored a comfortable win in Moscow.

After a goalless first half, Tite's men didn't take long to find their breakthrough in the second 45 minutes.

From a corner, Miranda bundled home from point-blank range after Thiago Silva's initial header forced a desperate save from Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev that bounced straight into the Inter Milan man's path.

Paulinho, in the middle of Brazil's second-half onslaught despite some shoddy finishing, was pulled down in the box on 61 minutes after he had been played in on goal deep in the box. Philippe Coutinho wrong-footed Akinfeev from the spot to give the five-time world champions a commanding advantage.

And Paulinho got his reward four minutes later when he headed into a gaping net after Willian played in a perfect chip for the Barcelona midfielder.

Ola Kamara scored a hat trick as Norway dealt Bert van Marwijk a rude awakening in his first match as Australia coach with the Socceroos slumping to a dismal 4-1 loss in Oslo on Friday.

Three goals from the LA Galaxy's Kamara and a header from Tore Reginiussen secured the emphatic victory after Jackson Irvine had given the Socceroos the lead with a 19th-minute header.

Mehmet Topal's sweetly-struck volley condemned a new-look Republic of Ireland to a 1-0 friendly defeat in Turkey as Martin O'Neill's side were given a lesson in international football.

O'Neill handed senior debuts to Declan Rice, Scott Hogan and substitute Matt Doherty and first starts to Alan Browne and Sean Maguire in Antalya, but it was Fenerbahce midfielder Topal who ultimately won the day with a 52nd-minute strike to clinch a 1-0 win.

Marko Arnautovic scored twice as Austria eased to a 3-0 win over Slovenia.

David Alaba curled in a free kick in the 15th minute before West Ham's Arnautovic double the lead with a controlled finish in the 36th minute, then added another with a looping header six minutes after the break.

LAFC's Marco Urena scored Costa Rica's goal in a 1-0 win as Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay made his Scotland debut.

The game saw Alex McLeish began his second tenure as Scotland boss with an uninspiring defeat at Hampden Park.

An experimental home side, who started with four debutants, fell behind in the 14th minute when Urena scored what proved to be the winner with a well-taken finish.

Uruguay will play Wales in the final of the China Cup after beating the Czech Republic 2-0 in Nanning.

Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani scored first-half goals as the South Americans eased into Monday's final.

The Czechs will now play China for third place after the hosts were thrashed 6-0 by Wales on Thursday.

Victor Moses won and converted a penalty that was enough for Nigeria to kick off their pre-World Cup programme with a 1-0 victory over Poland.

Shoya Nakajima scored from close range in the 95th minute to give Japan a 1-1 draw with Mali.

^ Back to Top ^