Friendly internationals round-up: Neymar scored a hat-trick as Brazil crushed hosts South Africa 5-0 in a friendly at the venue of the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
The Barcelona forward took his tally for his country to 30 after Brazil, who changed their strip at half-time from their traditional yellow and white colours to an all-blue kit, took the lead through Chelsea’s Oscar after 10 minutes at Soccer City.
Manchester City’s Fernandinho made a strong case for World Cup selection on his return to the side with a stunning long-range shot in the 79th minute as the 2014 hosts emphatically dealt with lightweight opponents.
Scott Brown scored his second Scotland winner in two games as Gordon Strachan's side beat Poland 1-0 in a Warsaw friendly in a match between Euro 2016 Group D, which also includes the Republic of Ireland.
The captain, who also netted the only goal in a November friendly in Norway, lashed a powerful first-time effort high into the net in the 78th minute as Scotland stretched their unbeaten record to five matches.
Darren Fletcher made his international comeback as a half-time substitute following a 16-month absence through a chronic bowel condition as Scotland largely frustrated their hosts, although Kamil Glik and Arkadiusz Milik both missed good chances to open the scoring.
Scotland rarely threatened, although Alan Hutton and Ross McCormack both had chances, but they were comfortable for the most part and the win will boost optimism over their chances of qualifying for the European Championship.
With time running out for players to seal their places in World Cup squads, Wednesday’s friendlies provided a valuable opportunity for coaches to examine their options.
England manager Roy Hodgson was one of them, although his side laboured to a 1-0 win over Denmark , Daniel Sturridge scoring late to ensure they did not lose three friendly matches in a row at Wembley.
Germany edged past Chile 1-0 and 1998 winners France beat the Netherlands 2-0.
Mario Goetze was on target for Germany in Stuttgart while Karim Benzema and Blaise Matuidi sealed France’s impressive win over the Dutch in Paris.
With time running out for players to seal their places in World Cup squads,
World Cup dark horses Belgium drew 2-2 with African qualifiers Ivory Coast , for whom Didier Drogba was on target, while Switzerland and Croatia also shared four goals.
Neymar's Barcelona team mate Lionel Messi has a less impressive night for Argentina in Romania with the match ending in a 0-0 stalemate, while Uruguay were also held 1-1 in Austria .
Ukraine and Russia, the two countries involved in a tense military stand-off in Crimea, were both in action.
Fabio Capello's Russia beat Armenia 2-0 in Krasnodar and Ukraine , who missed out on qualification, enjoyed a morale-boosting 2-0 victory over the United States in a match moved from Kharkiv to Larnaca in Cyprus.
First-time World Cup finalists Bosnia suffered a jolt as they were beaten 2-0 by Egypt in Innsbruck.
Tim Cahill scored twice to become Australia’s all-time top goalscorer, although his side squandered a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 against Ecuador in London.
Asian qualifiers Japan and South Korea enjoyed victories against New Zealand and Greece respectively.
Gareth McAuley was sent off in the second half as Northern Ireland laboured to a grim goalless draw against Cyprus in Nicosia.
The trip was seen as an ideal chance for manager Michael O’Neill to register a first away win as boss and end an embarrassing sequence of no goals in away friendlies since 2006.
But his side managed neither, often outplayed by opponents ranked 122nd in the world, and forced to hang on when West Brom defender McAuley was harshly dismissed in the 75th minute for a late tackle on Dimitris Christofi.
Northern Ireland have now won just once in their last 20 outings, albeit against Russia, and any optimism created by a kind qualifying group for Euro 2016 will have partially evaporated after they once again failed to put away a lesser light.
Gareth Bale turned on the style to run Iceland ragged and set up a convincing 3-1 friendly win for Wales .
The Real Madrid star created goals for James Collins and Sam Vokes and then scored a magnificent third himself as Wales eased to victory at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Iceland got back into the game at 1-1 as a Johann Gudmundsson shot was deflected in off Ashley Williams, but Bale, the world’s most expensive player, proved too much for them to handle.
His devastating performance will give manager Chris Coleman confidence – with Aaron Ramsey to return from injury – that Wales can challenge for a place at Euro 2016.
