Fabio Borini‘s goal for Italy U-21s proved decisive as the young Italians clinched a 1-0 friendly victory over Germany on Wednesday night.
The 21-year-old was in the right place at the right time as he arrived to tap home Lorenzo Insigne‘s pass after 59 minutes.
Elsewhere, Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson played their part as England claimed a memorable 2-1 victory over Brazil at Wembley.
Gerrard was presented with a golden commemorative cap by Peter Shilton prior to kickoff to mark his 100 appearances for England. However, when the match got underway, it was Brazil who seized the initiative and they went close in the 19th minute by forcing Joe Hart into a superb double-save to twice deny Ronaldinho.
Roy Hodgson‘s men took the lead six minutes later. Wayne Rooney pounced on a loose ball to slot through a cluster of yellow shirts after Theo Walcott went close for the Three Lions.
They were pegged back just after the interval when Gary Cahill‘s error allowed Fred to collect the ball and arrow it beyond Hart from the edge of the box.
Frank Lampard restored the one-goal advantage on the hour mark by hammering a Rooney lay-off past Julio Cesar and into the net via the inside of the keeper’s left post.
Luis Suarez played the full 90 minutes for Uruguay as it went down 3-1 to the reigning World Cup and European champions Spain. Suarez partnered the deadly Edinson Cavani up front. However, Uruguay found itself behind when keeper Fernando Muslera spilled Cesc Fabregas‘ speculative 35-yard effort into the net after 16 minutes.
The Uruguayans pulled level just after the half-hour mark when Martin Caceres fed Cristian Rodriguez, who spun away from Carles Puyol and tucked the ball beyond Victor Valdes to equalize. Barcelona’s Pedro took matters into his own hands in the second half, firing twice to hand the Spaniards a two-goal advantage and ultimately seal victory out in Qatar.
Daniel Agger played the entire game for Denmark as they lost 3-0 to FYR Macedonia in Skopje. The hosts raced into the lead courtesy of an eighth-minute strike from Napoli striker Goran Pandev. Agim Ibraimi doubled Macedonia’s advantage in the 17th minute before Nikolce Noveski put the finishing touches to a commanding display by adding a third just after the half-hour mark.
Joe Allen was back at Liberty Stadium for the second time since swapping Swansea for Liverpool last summer. The midfielder made an immediate impact, providing the ball for Gareth Bale to fire the Welsh ahead against Austria after 21 minutes of play. Bale then turned provider as he crossed for Sam Vokes to nod home Wales’ second of the night. Marc Janko pulled a goal back for the visitors late in the game but the home side held firm for a 2-1 win.
Meanwhile, there was late drama for Martin Skrtel and Slovakia when Richard LaÅ¡Ãk netted an 88th-minute equalizer against Belgium to seemingly clinch a draw in Brugge. However, Dries Mertens fired an even later winner for the Belgians, who ran-out 2-1 winners.
