Rate it!

8 votes

Jonas Gutierrez and Lionel Messi scored in each half to earn Argentina a 2-0 win over France and maintain Diego Maradona's 100 per cent record as boss.

Newcastle United midfielder Gutierrez fired home from a Sergio Aguero pass four minutes before the interval at Marseille's Stade Velodrome.

Barcelona forward Messi secured victory seven minutes from time when he slotted the ball past France keeper Steve Mandanda following an impressive slalom through the defence.

It was Maradona's second victory in two matches since he took over as Argentina coach last October.

A second-half Cristiano Ronaldo penalty earned Portugal a 1-0 victory against Finland, but the hosts far from impressed with their poor finishing.

Portugal have struggled to find form since coach Carlos Queiroz took charge last summer and hope to overcome a weak start in 2010 World Cup Group One qualifying by beating Sweden in Porto next month.

The breakthrough came on 79 minutes with Ronaldo converting a penalty after Sami Hyypia fouled substitute striker Danny.

Yossi Benayoun's close-range goal in the 76th minute earned Israel a 1-0 win over Hungary in an unimpressive match in Tel Aviv.

The Israelis were hardly threatened by Hungary in a match played at almost leisurely pace for much of the 90 minutes.

Israel dominated possession but were undone by poor passing and weak finishing.

Benayoun's goal gave the home fans some reason to cheer when he flicked the ball on to Hungary goalkeeper Marton Fulop's legs from close up and it deflected into the net after an excellent, low cross in from the left by defender Dedi Ben Dayan.

Visitors Norway beat a lacklustre Germany side 1-0 in Duesseldorf courtesy of a second-half Christian Grindheim goal.

Germany lacked spark and creativity despite the return of captain Michael Ballack and fellow midfielder Torsten Frings, who settled a dispute with coach Joachim Loew following the Euro 2008 final defeat against Spain.

The hosts came close early in the match with Miroslav Klose heading on to Mario Gomez but his volley floated over the crossbar.

Germany were lucky not have a penalty awarded against them when Heiko Westermann clumsily challenged Daniel Braaten in the box in the 21st.

The Norwegians grabbed the winner in the 63rd when a crowded Germany defence, looking shaky throughout the match, failed to clear and Morten Gamst Pedersen crossed to Grindheim at the far post who tapped it in.

Croatia striker Eduardo da Silva marked his return to top-level soccer after a year-long absence by setting up Niko Kranjcar's winner that secured a 2-1 victory over Romania.

Eduardo, who suffered a horrific leg injury last February while playing for his club side Arsenal, came on just before the hour and from his incisive pass inside the penalty area Kranjcar shot home a 75th-minute winner.

Romania, without injured striker Adrian Mutu, opened the scoring in the 22nd minute through striker Ciprian Marica but it took only seven minutes for Croatia to equalise.

Midfielder Ivan Rakitic made it 1-1 when he fired home a 35-yard free-kick.

Below-par Netherlands were held to a 1-1 draw by Tunisia after Jamel Saihi cancelled out Klaas Jan Huntelaar's strike.

Huntelaar fired in his 11th international goal for the Dutch just past the hour when a long pass from Stijn Schaars was headed on by Joris Mathijsen.

But despite the Dutch dominating for long periods, the home side equalised soon after when keeper Maarten Stekelenburg misjudged a long drive from Saihi.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba marked his return to international action with an injury-time strike which earned Ivory Coast a 1-1 draw against Turkey in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.

Turkey striker Gokhan Unal had put the home side ahead in the 11th minute, firing in a powerful shot from the edge of the area into the top right corner of the goal.

Drogba was back in the team after more than a year away.

Sweden made light of the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrik Larsson by beating Austria 2-0.

Second-half goals from rising youngster Rasmus Elm and Lyon's Kim Kallstrom were enough to give Sweden the morale-boosting away victory.

World Cup hosts South Africa were handed a comprehensive lesson by visitors Chile in a 2-0 defeat in Polokwane.

The pace and pressing of the South American visitors overwhelmed the locals, playing their first serious test as they began their last 18 months of preparations before the start of the 2010 World Cup.

A poor clearance allowed Chile midfielder Jorge Valdivia to fire home a shot from the edge of the penalty area on the stroke of half-time.

Udinese striker Alexis Sanchez added a second in the 67th minute, drifting in from the wing to find space to fire home.

A goal in each half from Daniel Van Buyten earned Belgium a 2-0 win at home to Slovenia.

The central defender put his side in front in the 21st minute when he latched on to a pass from Moussa Dembele before slotting home.

Van Buyten doubled his tally four minutes from time when he pounced on to Tom De Sutter's long-range shot which rebounded off the upright.

Striker Fanis Gekas equalised midway through the second half to earn former European champions Greece a 1-1 draw with Denmark.

Jonas Borring opened the scoring for Denmark when he slid the ball across Greece goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas four minutes after the break.

Gekas netted his 13th international goal after Alexandros Tziolis swung the ball over from the right and Vassilis Torosidis nudged it into the Portsmouth striker's path.

Switzerland and Bulgaria warmed up for the next round of World Cup qualifying with an uninspiring 1-1 draw at the Stade de Geneve.

Bulgaria were the livelier side throughout most of the encounter and took a deserved lead shortly after the half-hour mark when striker Ivelin Popov played a neat one-two with Stanislav Manolev before calmly firing past Marco Woelfli.

The Swiss keeper did well a few minutes later to smother a close range chance for Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov.

Bulgaria paid the price for that wasted opportunity in the final minute of the first half as midfielder Benjamin Huggel turned in a well-weighted pass against the run of play from Swiss captain Alex Frei.

Friendly results:

France 0-2 Argentina

Nigeria 0-0 Jamaica

Portugal 1-0 Finland

Cameroon 3-1 Guinea

Tunisia 1-1 Netherlands

Belgium 2-0 Slovenia

Latvia 0-0 Armenia

Moldova 1-1 Macedonia

Iceland 2-0 Liechtenstein

Libya 2-3 Uruguay

Cyprus 3-2 Slovakia

Israel 1-0 Hungary

Serbia 0-1 Ukraine

Kazakhstan 2-0 Estonia

Lithuania 3-1 Andorra

Kuwait 1-1 Azerbaijan

Egypt 2-2 Ghana

Algeria 2-1 Benin

Turkey 1-1 Ivory Coast

South Africa 0-2 Chile

Romania 1-2 Croatia

Morocco 0-0 Czech Republic

Germany 0-1 Norway

Austria 0-2 Sweden

Switzerland 1-1 Bulgaria

Greece 1-1 Denmark

Reuters