Spain 3
Brazil 3
BRAZIL SNATCHED A late leveller to share an entertaining and occasionally heated 3-3 friendly draw with Spain on Tuesday.
Lucas Paqueta fired home a stoppage-time penalty to deny La Roja victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, after they had taken a late lead.
Spain captain Rodri scored two heavily debated penalties of his own in a pulsating battle under a closed roof in the Spanish capital.
The Manchester City midfielder opened the scoring from the spot in the 12th minute after electric winger Lamine Yamal tumbled in the box and Dani Olmo extended Spain’s lead with a fine individual goal.
A mistake by Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon allowed Rodrygo to pull one back before the break and teen sensation Endrick, on as a substitute, fired Brazil level five minutes into the second half.
Rodri dispatched his second spot-kick late on after Dani Carvajal was clipped by Lucas Beraldo but Paqueta had the final say.
The match, arranged to help combat racism after various incidents of abuse aimed at Real Madrid and Brazil winger Vinicius Junior in Spain, proved a pulsating battle between two of football’s heavyweight nations.
Vinicius captained Brazil for the first time but was largely kept quiet, with his teenage compatriot and future Los Blancos team-mate Endrick continuing to enjoy the limelight, while Yamal shone for Spain.
After an experimental line-up fell to a 1-0 defeat by Colombia on Friday, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente picked a close to full-strength side to face the five-time World Cup winners.
La Roja excelled in the first half, barely allowing Brazil a sniff in Selecao coach Dorival Junior’s second match at the helm.
Spain wingers Yamal and Nico Williams were particularly dangerous, stretching the pitch and making Brazil suffer on the flanks.
Yamal won the penalty converted by Rodri for the opening goal, although the Barcelona winger was fortunate it was given after tumbling easily under a challenge from Joao Gomes.
The 16-year-old continues to grow in stature with every match and played in Olmo for the second goal.
RB Leipzig attacker Olmo finished it brilliantly, with some slick footwork to take Beraldo out of the picture before curling past Brazil goalkeeper Bento.
Spain allowed Brazil into the match just before half-time when goalkeeper Unai Simon gave the ball away carelessly to Rodrygo, who lobbed the ball over his head and into the net.
Dorival brought on Endrick, who scored the winner against England on Saturday in another friendly, at half-time, for his first appearance at the home of his future club, Real Madrid.
The 17-year-old starlet did not have to wait long to net his first goal in the Spanish capital, volleying home with the help of a deflection after a corner was headed into his path.
Spain thought they had won the game when Rodri slammed in his second penalty in the final stages after Carvajal hit the deck in a collision with Beraldo, but Brazil refused to throw in the towel.
The visitors earned a penalty of their own deep in stoppage time when Carvajal, having fallen, cynically pulled back Galeno’s leg to stop him.
Paqueta, who was earlier lucky to survive without punishment for swinging an arm at Marc Cucurella, sent Simon the wrong way to equalise with virtually the last kick.
Germany 2
Netherlands 1
An 84th-minute header from Niclas Fuellkrug sent Euro 2024 hosts Germany past the Netherlands 2-1 in a friendly in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
Brought on with 17 minutes remaining, the Borussia Dortmund striker leapt highest to head in a Toni Kroos corner, with goal-line technology confirming the ball had crossed the line.
Germany were forced to come from behind in the match, conceding after just four minutes, with Joey Veerman taking advantage of some sloppy defending from Maximilian Mittelstaedt to give the Dutch the lead.
Mittelstaedt, playing just his second game in Germany colours, made up for his mistake shortly after however, unleashing a stunning strike from outside the box to level the scores on the 10-minute mark.
The victory continues Germany’s recent uptick in form, a second-straight victory less than three months from hosting Euro 2024.
Kroos, called back into the German side having retired from international duty in 2021, told RTL “I’m convinced we’ll play a good tournament.”
“I’m proud of the team. We came out of a difficult time. We have momentum and belief back, even if we didn’t start the game well.
“A couple of months ago we may have fallen in a heap, but that didn’t happen. We’ve played two very good friendlies — it’s just a shame we won’t get any points (at the Euros) for that.”
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said “the match was a bit more complicated than it was against the French, but we managed to get a second win in a row — it feels good.”
“The game could have turned the other way in the second-half, but in the final 15 minutes we were dominant and showed we wanted to win.”
- ‘Outstanding’ -
Germany came into the match riding a wave of optimism rarely seen in recent years, buoyed by a convincing 2-0 win over France on Saturday after a disappointing 2023 in which they won just three of 11 matches.
Nagelsmann picked an unchanged XI but unlike Saturday’s rapid start, where Florian Wirtz put Germany in front after just seven seconds, the Dutch pounced on a mistake to open the scoring four minutes in.
After an impressive debut against France, Mittelstaedt was the culprit, his poor pass finding Memphis Depay who squared for Veerman to score.
Mittelstaedt would however make up for his mistake, blasting in an incredible shot from outside the box which rocketed in off the crossbar.
Nagelsmann praised the “outstanding” Mittelstaedt, telling RTL after the game “the mistake happened, but what’s more important is what happened after, he dealt with it brilliantly.”
Jamal Musiala, who set up the equaliser with a delicate pass, almost laid on another after 17 minutes when he threaded the ball expertly for Kai Havertz, but the Arsenal forward shot straight at the ‘keeper.
Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman had made seven changes to the side which walloped Scotland 4-0 on Friday.
Despite looking disjointed as a result and rarely troubling the German defence, the visitors succeeded in taking the sting out of the match after the early flurry, with few chances for either side in the second period.
Nagelsmann brought on old for young, replacing Havertz and Wirtz with veterans Thomas Mueller and Fuellkrug, with Germany looking better immediately.
Musiala forced a desperate save moments later as Germany turned up the pressure, with Fuellkrug heading the hosts in front shortly after, his 11th goal in 15 internationals.
