International Football Friendlies: Round-up of all the action
With the 2018 FIFA World Cup now less than 3 months away, teams have begun their final preparations for football's most elite tournament. The international break was used to try new things as the world's top nations locked horns in a quest to find their rhythm. Here are all the results from the action-packed international break.
Ronaldo's brace seals last minute victory for Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal beat Mohamed Salah's Egypt 2-1. Two stoppage-time goals from Ronaldo secured the late victory for Portugal. Mohamed Salah opened the scoring in the 56th minute, but nothing could stop Ronaldo from making his 900th career match a memorable one, as he struck a brace in 92nd and 94th minute to seal the thrilling victory
France succumb to a shock defeat in hands of Colombia
France might have one of the best squads in the FIFA World Cup but they got a shocker when they slumped to a 3-2 home defeat to Colombia. The Les Bleus threw away a 2 goal advantage after goals from Olivier Giroud and Thomas Lemar. Luis Muriel, Radamel Falcao and Juan Quintero scored for the Colombians to seal a memorable victory.
Messi-less Argentina beat Italy 2-0
Argentina beat Italy 2-0 in a fixture where the Azzurri paid tribute to the late Davide Astori. Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero sat this fixture out but goals from Ever Banega and Manuel Lanzini rounded off the victory for the 2014 World Cup finalists.
Muller's strike spares Germany's blushes
World champions Germany were held to a 1-1 draw by 2010 World champions Spain in the high profile friendly. Spain took the lead early courtesy of Rodrigo Moreno's goal in the 6th minute. However, Thomas Muller restored parity in the 35th minute with a wonder strike to mark his 90th international cap for Germany.
Jesse Lingard scores his first international goal
Manchester United's Jesse Lingard scored his first international goal to hand England a 1-0 victory over struggling Netherlands in Amsterdam. This was Ronald Koeman's first game as manager of the Oranje. The Three Lions have now extended their unbeaten run to 7 games and are looking like a top side heading into the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
