International friendlies: England beat Brazil, Argentina down Sweden

Yet with Germany looking increasingly dominant and the first half coming to a close, France managed to grab the lead. Khedira gave France a free-kick with a poor tackle on Blaise Matuidi, and Benzema crashed the set-piece off the crossbar, only for Valbuena to follow up with an easy headed finish. The half-time whistle blew shortly afterwards to give France a half-time lead.

The Netherlands had fielded a youthful and inexperienced side against Italy, and they impressed as they dominated possession and created a string of chances, but in the end Italy showed they have young talents of their own as Marco Verratti levelled the scores with a late equaliser.

Italy had clearly set up with a disciplined system designed to stifle the hosts when they had the ball, but ended up inviting too much pressure upon themselves. They had Buffon to thank again after the dangerous Maher met another cross which the keeper was forced to palm away, before also bailing his team out after Strootman marched up the pitch untracked to let fly with another good effort.

Higuain was the man on the end of the move that produced Argentina’s first goal, though it was credited as an own goal by Mikael Lustig. A fantastic team counter-attacking move ended with a ball being slotted through to Higuain by Angel di Maria, and his shot deflected off Lustig before going in at the near post.

Di Maria was involved in the setup of the second Argentina as well, which came less than two minutes after Sweden’s equalizer. He played the final pass of the move to Aguero, who rounded Andreas Isaksson before finishing calmly. Higuain added Argentina’s third four minutes later to put his side up by two goals.

*Unless they were there to watch Neymar.

The hosts were on top, but their defence still looked shaky whenever it was put under pressure. Neymar should have equalised in the 37th minute after magnificent work from Oscar, whose wicked cross put the Santos star in on an open goal from three yards. He missed. At the other end of the pitch, Walcott repeatedly skinned the awful Adriano and it took a fine save from Cesar to prevent the Three Lions from making it 2-0.

Uruguay seemed to be settling in to the match and looking dangerous on the counter. Then in the 16th minute, their goalkeeper let them down. Cesc Fábregas took a speculative shot from 30+ yards out that didn’t have much movement and went right towards Fernando Muslera. The ball went right through Muslera’s hands, at best off his fingers, and right into the back of the net to put Spain up 1-0. Whatever happened it was an awful howler from the Uruguayan keeper.

It only took six minutes for Spain to take the lead back in the second half. Halftime substitute Gerard Piqué hit Pedro with a great pass from 25-yards out on the right side of the box. Alvaro González got turned inside-out by Pedro who easily raced past the midfielder before beating Muslera inside the far post, putting Spain up 2-1.

No huge surprises are in store in terms of lineups as England take on Brazil at Wembley. Without much in the way of a midfield, Roy Hodgson’s been forced to throw Jack Wilshere, Steven Gerrard and Tom Cleverley into a trio behind Wayne Rooney. Danny Welbeck gets the nod ahead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the left, but in general the Three Lions are more or less as expected.

Luis Felipe Scolari and Brazil are also as expected, mostly because they announced their lineups yesterday and appear to be mostly in this to have a good time. They should also be in a 4-3-3, with Corinthians man Paulinho anchoring midfield behind a dangerous attack that somehow manages to feature both Neymar and Ronaldinho.

And here is another good reason:

Match date/time: Wednesday February 6th. 7:30 p.m. GMT (5:30 p.m. BRST; 2:30 p.m GMT)

What better way to brighten up a dreary London February than by injecting some Samba flair into proceedings? Brazil had laboured under Mano Menezes, failing to get the results they wanted or produce the entertainment that fans of the Selecao crave -- despite the presence of some of the worst’s most talented footballers on their roster. Luis Felipie Scolari has been brought in to redress the balance, and his new-look side should turn heads at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday.

England, meanwhile, are still England. They’re an under-appreciated side, but their midfield is calamitously poor and until they fix that they’ll be both difficult to watch and will underachieve when it matters. Not that this match really does. Hurray international friendlies!

One of the most interesting things about Holland’s meltdown is that they had a near-perfect qualification campaign, losing only to Sweden in their final match. Now, as they prepare for the 2014 World Cup, the qualification is progressing in the same manner -- the oranje have won all four of their matches. But is this another illusion of strength, brought on by being drawn in a weak group, or has van Gaal made significant changes to Holland’s international strategy?

But those looking to see a more exciting Dutch squad should tune in for the match against Italy, which features a host of players from the Eredivisie. The oldest midfielder is Jonathan De Guzmán, getting his first callup, but despite his EPL credentials he’s not the most interesting cog in the midfield wheel. The Dutch league is producing some terrific homegrown midfielders, including Kevin Strootman, Adam Maher and Marco van Ginkel. Let’s cross our fingers that van Gaal chooses to let us see what these players can do together, with an eye toward a fresher squad come Brazil.

What’s worse is that their vaunted attack can also be shut down. They haven’t scored more than one goal in a qualifier since June 10th when they beat Peru 4-2. That’s not good, especially in CONMEBOL where the competition for the final two qualification spots will likely be a full blown battle. Uruguay needs some confidence and a positive result combined with a good performance against Spain, even in a friendly, could go a long way.

Despite all the recent struggles, Tabarez isn’t making many changes with his roster. There are only four players in camp without double-digit caps, so it appears that Tabarez is going to ride out qualifying with this group for better or worse. Given the defensive problems for Uruguay, there’s a chance that Sebastián Coates or Matías Aguirregaray could make a name for themselves if given the opportunity.

Most international friendlies are pointless exercises. Some have one purpose, which is to make both federations a lot of money. Some exist to prepare the teams for upcoming competitive fixtures, which is generally acceptable. Wednesday’s match between Sweden and Argentina is a completely different animal, the best kind of international friendly. It’s the kind of international friendly that just exists to be outrageously fun.

If you watch football for reasons other than ‘seeing cool things happen’, you might have some interest in this game as well. Both managers will probably take this game seriously, as they prepare for March’s competitive fixtures.