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International friendlies update

Ross DunbarNovember 12, 2014

Two Barcelona stars did the business for their respective national teams from South America, when they played in Europe on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, one Bundesliga player debuted for the Selecao.

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Fußball Freundschaftsspiel Brasilien - Türkei
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer

Brazil's superstar Neymar scored twice in his team's comfortable 4-0 win over Turkey on Wednesday night, as the World Cup hosts continue their improved run post-tournament. Chelsea's Willian and an own goal helped Brazil continue their winning run under new coach Dunga. The game also marked the debut of Hoffenheim's Roberto Firmino for the Brazilian national team.

Firmino, with 33 goals and 22 assists in 117 league games at Hoffenheim, came on as a second-half substitute and managed to get 17 minutes of international experience.

Under Dunga, the coach of the team for the second time, the South American side have made small steps towards recovering from the 7-1 loss to Germany in the World Cup semi-finals on July 8, 2014.

Barcelona's Neymar opened the scoring in the 20th minute before an own goal four minutes later from Semih Kaya doubled the Selecao's advantage.

Willian added a third before the break, while Neymar scored his 42nd international goal in 59 games on the hour mark to make it a 100% start for Brazil's new head coach.

Messi reaches half-century

Carlos Tevez made his first appearance for Argentina since 2011 at Upton Park, the home of West Ham, one of his former clubs in England. The Juventus striker replaced Sergio Aguero in the 62nd minute against Croatia and was given a warm welcome by fans of his old club.

Fußball Freundschaftsspiel Mexiko - Niederlande
Arjen Robben's controversial spot-kick at the World Cup sent Mexico homeImage: Reuters/T. Kluiters

But it was Lionel Messi of Barcelona who secured the 2-1 win for Argentina, converting from the penalty spot in the 57th minute after Cristian Ansaldi cancelled out Anas Sharbini's opening goal. Messi has now scored 50 times from the penalty spot in his career (43 times with Barca, 7 Argentina).

Another World Cup semi-finalist, the Netherlands, went down 3-2 at the Amsterdam Arena to Mexico, one of the teams the Oranje dispatched en route to the last-four in Brazil. Carlos Vela chipped in with a brace, while Javier Hernandez scored the decisive goal in the 69th minute, even though Daley Blind scored a consolation goal soon after.

Meanwhile, even 15-year-old prodigy Martin Odegaard failed to inspire Norway who went down by a single goal to Estonia and Belgium picked up a 3-1 win over Iceland. Earlier in the day, in Malaysia, Syria won 3-0.