England were given a big wake-up call at Wembley as Chile totally outclassed Roy Hodgson's men to secure a well-deserved victory, while Italy and Germany played out a draw in Milan. The Three Lions were booed off the pitch following a poor performance as they flopped to their first defeat of 2013. Alexis Sanchez maintained the visitors' excellent record against England, scoring six minutes into the first half, and the Barcelona forward repeated the heroics of Chile icon Marcelo Salas in 1998 by sealing a 2-0 win at the end. Read more after the cut.
Meanwhile, at the San Siro, Germany coach Joachim Loew celebrated his 100th game on the Germany bench with a 1-1 draw over old rivals Italy, who remain unbeaten against the Nationalmannschaft since 1995. Two defenders provided the goals at the San Siro with Mats Hummels on target early on for Germany, and Ignazio Abate equalising for the hosts just half an hour into the game. Italy forged the better chances to take a win, confirming their status as Germany's bogey team, although they were unable to find a winner in Milan and almost lost with the last kick of the game as Benedikt Howedes struck the post.
Martin O'Neill enjoyed a dream start to his reign as Republic of Ireland manager as Robbie Keane sparked a 3-0 demolition of Latvia. Keane extended his senior international goal tally to 62 just 22 minutes into O'Neill's first game at the helm, prompting namesake and assistant manager Roy Keane to punch the air in delight before returning to his seat on the bench. Aiden McGeady, who prospered under the Ulsterman during his time in charge at Celtic, extended the lead a with a well-taken second 22 minutes from time -- just his third goal in 62 senior appearances for his country.
Scotland restored some dignity against the United States after their friendly at Hampden ended in a 0-0 draw. The last meeting between the two nations saw the Scots endure a humiliating 5-1 defeat in Florida in May 2012, when Craig Levein was still at the helm. This clash was billed as 'Redemption' by the Scotland camp in the build-up and they ensured the feel-good factor and momentum from recent displays and results under Gordon Strachan continued.
Elsewhere, a solitary moment of madness cost Northern Ireland a battling draw in Adana as Roy Carroll and Chris Baird gifted Turkey a 1-0 win. Michael O'Neill's side were outclassed in terms of talent but had it not been for an unforgivable lack of concentration at the back their hard work and resilience would have spared yet another friendly defeat. Just seconds before the break goalkeeper Carroll and defender Baird suffered a dreadful lack of communication, both standing off as Mevlut Erdinc nipped in to touch Bilal Kisa's chip over the line. It was a bitter pill for the visitors to swallow but to their credit they dug deep to ensure they did not fall further behind -- Baird responding creditably after his error and Jonny Evans impressive in repelling everything Turkey threw his way.
Argentina were held to a goalless draw in a friendly with Ecuador in the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey as both sides were denied by the frame of the goal. An Argentina team which included Fiorentina's Facundo Roncaglia and Bordeaux's Lucas Orban struggled in the first half but Alejandro Sabbela's side came more into the game after the break. Jefferson Montero and Felipe Caicedo caused problems for the Argentina defence in the first half, the former providing the cross from which Antonio Valencia headed against the crossbar. Argentina were restricted to two weak efforts on goal from outside the area during the first half. Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria led the Argentina response in the second half but failed to break the deadlock from his four efforts on goal. The closest an Argentina team missing the injured Lionel Messi came to a goal was in the dying moments when Maximiliano Rodriguez hit the post with a volley from close range.
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