Football friendlies: Messi, Neymar shine as Argentina, Brazil record wins

Lionel Messi's penalty earned Argentina a 2-1 win over Croatia after a fortunate equaliser that stood despite an unintentional handball by Sergio Aguero in a friendly at West Ham United’s Upton Park ground on Wednesday.

Messi scored from the spot in the 57th minute after Aguero had been brought down by goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic.

Midfielder Anas Sharbini gave the Croatians an early lead which they held until three minutes after halftime when a shot from outside the box by left back Cristian Ansaldi took a deflection off Aguero’s forearm and went in.

“They have many world-class players and had many other chances to score,” Croatia coach Niko Kovacs told reporters.

Carlos Tevez, who came on for Aguero to roars of approval from fans of his former club West Ham in the 62nd minute for his first Argentina appearance since 2011, sent one chance wide as Argentina looked to turn the screw.

But Croatia, resting key players for their upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy, continued to threaten with their quick passing game.

Messi hit the post at the end of a brilliant attack down the middle as the match entered the final 10 minutes.

'We still have to improve a lot'

"In the second half the team improved, they were more consistent,” Argentina coach Gerardo Martino told reporters.

"We still have to improve a lot but there were positive aspects and one of them undoubtedly was Tevez’s involvement.”

The victory avenged a 3-2 defeat by Croatia in Basel in a 2006 World Cup warm-up in which youngsters Messi and Tevez scored the Argentina goals.

A previously untested Argentina centre-back partnership of Federico Fazio and Santiago Vergini had trouble with the fast-breaking Croatians.

Sharbini met a low ball from the right and shot past Romero into the bottom corner to give Croatia the lead.

“Their goal was lovely. They put pressure on our left flank and when the ball was crossed were men short on the right,” Martino said.

Argentina’s world-class attack, with Messi playing from wide on the right, began to show their individual skills and Aguero went close with three chances, the first a back-heeled effort from Angel Di Maria’s pass.

Romerosent a long punt downfield and Aguero took the ball superbly on his instep, turned and fired a stinging drive towards the top corner but Kalinic made a diving save.

Neymar shines as Brazil crush Turkey

Neymar scored twice as Brazil continued their winning run under new head coach Dunga with a 4-0 victory against Turkey in a friendly in Istanbul on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Barcelona forward also provided an assist to add to his brace and was aided by a brilliant performance by Chelsea winger Willian.

Neymar held off the attentions of the last defender to finish past Volkan Demirel after finding himself one on one with the Turkish goalkeeper in the 20th minute.

Semih Kaya's own goal and Willian's strike just before the break gave the visitors a 3-0 halftime lead before Neymar completed the rout in the 60th minute with his 42nd international goal.

"We could have chosen an easier team for a friendly game to get our statistics right, but Brazil is one of the best teams in the world," Turkey coach Fatih Terim said.

"We played against a fantastic team and gave our fans (the chance) to watch them, but unfortunately we sometimes watched them on the pitch too."

Brazil face Austria in a friendly on Tuesday while Turkey, who are bottom of their Euro 2016 qualifying pool, host Kazakhstan in Group A on Sunday.

Vela scores brace on winning return for Mexico

Carlos Vela scored twice in his first international appearance since 2011 as Mexico exacted revenge for their controversial World Cup exit with a 3-2 victory against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Vela put the visitors in front with a superb strike in the eighth minute and added a second goal in the 60th after Wesley Sneijder's sublime long-range equaliser.

Javier Hernandez dribbled past goalkeeper Tim Krul to add a third with a simple finish after 69 minutes before Daley Blind's deflected long-range shot five minutes later reduced the deficit.

Defeat heaps more pressure on Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, who has come under increased scrutiny, after Wednesday's defeat subjected them to a fourth loss in five matches since a third-placed finish at the World Cup.

Vela had not played for his country since March 2011 following a six month suspension for a breach of discipline by the Mexican Football Federation.

The Real Sociedad forward then repeatedly to return to the international fold following the punishment.

Hiddink made a host of changes

The game was a rematch of the Netherlands' controversial 2-1 round of sixteen victory against Mexico in June. Having led 1-0 with two minutes remaining in Brazil, Mexico lost 2-1 following late goals from Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who converted a penalty won by an apparent Arjen Robben dive.

Hiddink made a host of changes on Wednesday from the team that succumbed to a surprise 2-0 Euro 2016 qualifying defeat against Iceland last month with Blind, Ibrahim Afellay, Sneijder and Robben the only players to retain their starting places.

Last week Hiddink, in his second spell as the Dutch coach, told a press conference he would quit if the Netherlands fail to beat Latvia in their Euro 2016 qualifying game on Sunday -- just three months after succeeding Louis van Gaal as coach.

The Netherlands are third in their Euro 2016 qualifying Group A, six points behind joint group leaders Iceland and the Czech Republic.