Preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup stepped up a
gear on Wednesday, with all 32 participating nations in friendly action.
Neymar took centre stage as his hat-trick helped
tournament hosts Brazil to a comfortable 5-0 triumph over South Africa.
The visitors led 2-0 at the break at Soccer City in
Johannesburg - Oscar clipping past Ronwen Williams from Hulk's superb pass
before Neymar added a second with a driven effort on 40 minutes.
That advantage was extended to three almost immediately
after the restart as Neymar expertly lofted over the goalkeeper, before
Fernandinho added a fourth with 11 minutes remaining with an outstanding
long-range strike.
Neymar then completed his first international treble
since September 2012 when he scored a hat-trick against China as Brazil racked
up their seventh straight victory.
Reigning champions Spain got one over 2006 winners Italy
with a 1-0 victory at Vicente Calderon.
The home side's relentless second-half pressure finally
told on 64 minutes, as David Silva's attempted one-two with Andres Iniesta fell
kindly for Pedro, who squeezed his shot under Gianluigi Buffon - although the
Italy goalkeeper may feel that he could have done better in keeping the shot
out.
In another clash between two European heavyweights,
France recorded their first win over the Netherlands since 1997 courtesy of
goals from Karim Benzema and Blaise Matuidi.
The result represents a first defeat in 18 matches for
the Dutch.
Argentina had a questionable disallowed goal to thank for
avoiding defeat in a goalless draw with Romania, and Uruguay were held 1-1 in
Austria.
An early Mario Gotze strike was enough to seal a 1-0
victory for Germany over Chile, while Group G rivals Portugal produced a late
flurry to triumph 5-1 over Cameroon having been tied at 1-1 at half-time.
Belgium squandered a 2-0 lead as Ivory Coast came from
behind to rescue a 2-2 draw, and England were forced to rely on a late Daniel
Sturridge strike to get the better of Denmark 1-0.
Arguably the most entertaining fixture of the day came in
London, where Australia went from 3-0 up to 4-3 down in the space of 35
second-half minutes against fellow World Cup qualifiers Ecuador.
The fixture saw Tim Cahill net two goals on his former
stomping at The Den for the Australians, who also had goalkeeper Mitchell
Langerak sent off 12 minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Greece fell at the final hurdle in their bid to go a year
unbeaten as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of South Korea, while
Josip Drmic and Ivica Olic grabbed two goals apiece as Switzerland and Croatia
drew 2-2.
Elsewhere, there were victories for Japan, Russia and
Algeria against New Zealand, Armenia and Slovenia respectively, but there were
setbacks for Iran, Ghana, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the United States, who each
tasted defeat - against Guinea, Montenegro, Egypt and Ukraine.
Ten-man Colombia missed the clinical finishing of Radamel
Falcao as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Tunisia in Barcelona - with the South
Americans seeing Luis Perea sent off for a second yellow card.
In the Americas, Honduras beat Venezuela 2-1 in San Pedro
Sula, Mexico drew 0-0 with Nigeria in Atlanta and Costa Rica got past Paraguay
2-1 in San Jose.
Culled from Soccerway
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