International Roundup: Ronaldo's Late Goals Ruin Salah's Night, Italy Loses to Argentina

The international break has again disrupted our normal way of life for a bit. But we can't say that it was for nothing, as it threw up some tasty friendlies on Friday.
Brazil has begun temporary life without Neymar by easily dispatching Russia 3-0, winning the match in the second half with goals from Miranda, Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho.
No Neymar, no problem. After 0-0 at HT, Brazil has finally turned it on against Russia. Here’s Paulinho with the third goal (📹:@beINSPORTSUSA)pic.twitter.com/aeRbIlQ7T2
— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) March 23, 2018
England, meanwhile, stole the advantage against Holland through Jesse Lingard's 59th-minute opener. The Manchester United star has been splendid this season, so it was only right that he would get his first international goal during this particular break—and a winning goal it was too.
As if anything else was remotely possible, Mohamed Salah continued his wonderful form, scoring the first for Egypt against Euro 2016 champions Portugal in the 56th minute of their friendly encounter.
Cristiano Ronaldo, however, ruined what was nearly a memorable win for the Egyptians with two stoppage-time goals for a 2-1 Portugal win.
In perhaps one of the more important friendlies on the night, Argentina and Italy were separated after Ever Banega put one past the Azzurri with 15 minutes to go. Manuel Lanzini would put the icing on the cake with a second in the 85th minute to hand La Albiceleste a 2-0 victory.
Manuel Lanzini’s debut goal for Argentina was 🔥 (📹:@beINSPORTSUSA)pic.twitter.com/CkMWXqTTiy
— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) March 23, 2018
Meanwhile, Victor Moses's second-half penalty was enough to get Nigeria past Poland for a marginal 1-0 win, while LAFC's Marco Urena found the target for Costa Rica to get the only goal of the night against Scotland for a 1-0 triumph.
¡La Sele abre el marcador ante Escocia! pic.twitter.com/ejVH5dR8ZL
— Deportes Repretel (@deporterepretel) March 23, 2018
Julen Lopetegui's Spain side would take a very early lead over defending World Cup champions Germany, with Rodrigo finding the back of the net in the sixth minute. But Thomas Muller fired Die Mannschaft level 10 minutes before halftime with a right-footed strike from outside the box off Sami Khedira's assist.
Mucho concepto en el gol de España a Alemania:
— Vicente Muglia (@VicenMuglia) March 24, 2018
-Triangulación: Isco, Jordi Alba e Iniesta evitaron la presión rival.
-Pase filtrado: el de Iniesta, sin marca encima y con segundos para decidir.
-Pique en diagonal: Rodrigo atacó la espalda de Hummels para recibir y definir. pic.twitter.com/cL7EdVSCFp
Uruguay ran out quite comfortably against the Czech Republic, winning 2-0 through goals from marksmen Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, and their South American neighbors Colombia came back from a 2-0 deficit against Euro 2016 finalists France to grab a dramatic late win.
Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud started things off in the 11th minute and Monaco's Thomas Lemar doubled the lead 15 minutes later, but Luis Muriel would pull one back for the Colombians, with Lemar's Monaco teammate Radamel Falcao scoring the equalizing goal.
Juan Fernando Quintero completed the comeback for Colombia five minutes from time with a penalty, after Jose Izquierdo was fouled in France's box by Samuel Umtiti, to win it at 3-2.
Later in the evening, Peru, returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1982, defeated Croatia 2-0 in Miami. It was the first Peruvian victory against a European nation in 19 years.
Full Results Table
Home | Score | Away |
|---|---|---|
Argentina | Â 2 - 0 | Italy |
Germany | Â 1 - 1 | Spain |
Netherlands | Â 0 - 1 | England |
Poland | Â 0 - 1 | Nigeria |
Portugal | Â 2 - 1 | Egypt |
Scotland | Â 0 - 1 | Costa Rica |
Uruguay | Â 2 - 0 | Czech Rep |
Russia | Â 0 - 3 | Brazil |
France | Â 2 - 3 | Colombia |
Peru | Â 2 - 0 | Croatia |
