International friendlies: England, Argentina and Spain among victorious teams

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Negredo’s goal was an absolute beauty, though the defending left quite a bit to be desired. In the 25th minute, Cazorla had a shot saved, but Ecuador couldn’t clear. He eventually got the ball back and squared for Negredo, who finished with a cheeky backheel.

Cazorla netted the second goal in the 63rd minute from just inside the penalty area, finishing low and to the near post after picking up a pass from Christian Tello.

With Scotland on the ropes, the introduction of Rickie Lambert probably didn’t send them cowering at the prospect of facing a player making his debut at the tender age of 31, yet with almost his first touch he rose highest from a corner to plant a towering header past Allen McGregor and give England the lead for the first time in the game.

Lambert almost made it an even more amazing debut as he struck the post shortly afterwards from a great opportunity, a bobble on the pitch appearing to confound the Southampton forward, but his earlier goal proved enough to earn England a victory against their oldest rivals.

Cesare Prandelli made three half-time substitutions, though any hopes Italy had of quickly drawing level were dashed when Argentina substitute Éver Banega was gifted space on the edge of the box four minutes after the restart. The Valencia midfielder dashed from deep to receive the ball, before drilling it across Buffon and into the bottom corner.

With 15 minutes remaining, Italy finally did have their breakthrough. Napoli winger Lorenzo Insigne opened his account for the Azzurri with an excellent curling shot from the edge of the box, before the game completely opened out. Di María and Insigne squandered excellent chances within seconds of each other, as Argentina clung to their slender lead.

The first half was scoreless, but it was hardly lacking in excitement. There were a slew of chances at both ends of the pitch, with Jefferson in particular put under pressure thanks to some powerful Swiss shooting. Xhedran Shaqiri was the dangerman, twice drawing the goalkeeper into sprawling saves from the edge of the box, and the Dante-Thiago Silva partnership was made to work by the hosts’ dynamic attack.

Things very nearly got worse for the visitors when Jefferson failed to control a back pass and was forced to scramble clear at Seferovic’s feet. Hulk had a chance to pull it back on the hour mark after being picked out in the box by Maxwell, but for the third time of the game the burly forward failed to find the net.

The goal failed to wake England up, however, who were still extremely lethargic both on and off the ball, their play characterised by shots blazed well over the bar and careless offside passes.

It’s been a relatively well-matched half at Wembley, and it’ll be interesting to see whether Roy Hodgson keeps Rooney on or substitutes him at half-time. This one could go either way.

Jurgen Klinsmann has handed 20-year-old John Anthony Brooks is his start with the senior national team as the USA prepares to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.

Bosnia rolls out a first choice lineup that includes Miralem Pjanić, Edin Džeko, Asmir Begović and Senad Lulić.

‘Chepo’ Jose Manuel de la Torre has called in a mix of players from his Confederations Cup and Gold Cup squads, plus a couple of new faces. Uncapped Cruz Azul star Christian Gimenez and only once-capped Tigres star Damian Alvarez, both naturalized Argentinians, have both been called into the squad. Lucas Lobos, perhaps the country’s most popular and most in-form naturalized Argentinian, was surprisingly left off the team.

Match date/time: Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET

Match date/time: Wednesday, 2:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. local

Venue: St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland

Rather than bringing in all the big names ahead of the new season kicking off this weekend, Spain head coach Vicente del Bosque is looking to the future as he travels with his team to face Ecuador on Wednesday.

Ecuador are win-less in their last three matches but still sit in third place in CONMEBOL qualifying for the World Cup. It’s the first meeting between the two teams in over 10 years with Spain having won their last match 4-0 behind a Fernando Morientes hat-trick.

Match Date/Time: Wednesday, 14th August, 8 p.m. local, 3 p.m. ET

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England

This is the first time the sides have met in a friendly in over ten years, though they’ve faced off regularly in major tournaments since. Portugal knocked the Netherlands out of Euro 2004 at the semi-final stage, before sending them home in the round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup. Their most recent clash came at last summer’s Euro 2012, when Portugal again emerged victorious and the Netherlands went home at the group stage without a single point.

Match date/time: Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. local, 3:30 p.m. ET

Italy injuries and suspensions

Barzagli is definitely out with an Achilles tendon injury, while a knee problem means Balotelli is a slight doubt.