Cristiano Ronaldo leaving it late to upstage Mohamed Salah heads our international round-up

Sport360 staff 10:38 24/03/2018
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  • Ronaldo came to Portugal's rescue once again.

    Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice in stoppage time as Portugal snatched a 2-1 victory over Egypt in their international friendly in Zurich.

    Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah put the Pharoahs ahead in the 56th minute when he curled home a low effort from the edge of the area on Friday.

    That looked like being the winner for Hecor Cuper’s side until Ronaldo’s late intervention.

    The Real Madrid forward’s header from six yards brought the European Champions level two minutes into time added on.

    Two minutes later Ronaldo headed home from Ricardo Quaresma’s free-kick, and although the effort was initially chalked off for off-side, the Video Assistant Referee awarded the goal.

    Thomas Muller’s thunderous equaliser ensured the heavyweight friendly between Germany and Spain finished all-square in Dusseldorf.

    Rodrigo gave Spain an early lead in the battle between the last two World Cup winners but Muller levelled things up before half-time with an unstoppable 25-yard shot.

    Both teams had chances to win the game, with Germany defender Mats Hummels hitting the crossbar and opposing goalkeepers David de Gea and Marc-Andre ter Stegen cementing their reputations as two of the best stoppers on the planet, but no more goals were forthcoming as the match finished 1-1.

    Mueller's strike helped Germany hold Spain in their friendly.

    Mueller’s strike helped Germany hold Spain in their friendly.

    Juan Fernando Quintero’s late penalty saw Colombia come from 2-0 down to beat France 3-2 in a friendly in Paris.

    The hosts were cruising after 26 minutes thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Thomas Lemar, but Colombia were much the better team in the second half.

    Luis Muriel had pulled one back before the break and Radamel Falcao levelled after the hour. Then with only five minutes left, Quintero scored from the spot after a foul by Samuel Umtiti.

    Gareth Southgate’s men capped a promising display with a deserved victory as an experimental England side beat Holland 1-0 thanks to Jesse Lingard’s first international goal.

    Southgate raised eyebrows with some selections for the final game on foreign soil before heading to Russia, but England looked confident against one of the most notable World Cup absentees.

    Ever Banega and Manuel Lanzini scored as Argentina – without the watching Lionel Messi – secured a 2-0 win over Italy in Manchester.

    Miranda, Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho were on target as Brazil beat World Cup hosts Russia 3-0 in Moscow, an Ola Kamara hat-trick helped Norway thrash Australia 4-1 and a Victor Moses penalty gave Nigeria a 1-0 win over Poland.

    Alex McLeish began his second tenure as Scotland boss with an uninspiring 1-0 defeat by Costa Rica at Hampden Park and the Republic of Ireland lost to Turkey by the same scoreline.

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