Jack Wilshere's first England start was eclipsed by the outstanding second-half performance of Ashley Young as Fabio Capello's side came from behind to beat Denmark 2-1 at the Parken Stadion.

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Wilshere has been labelled England's brightest hope for the future by Fabio Capello, but he had little chance to make an impact during a tough first half, which saw Denmark lead through Daniel Agger before Darren Bent equalised. The Arsenal man was withdrawn at the break along with Wayne Rooney, and Young made the most of his opportunity with the winning goal.

Agger's goal was created by the excellent Christian Eriksen, whose cross was perfect for the Liverpool centre back after he had lost Michael Dawson inside the area. However, within three minutes England were level, with Capello's other intriguing selection - Darren Bent - doing what he does best to stab home Theo Walcott's cross from two yards.

Young's second-half performance will have given Capello plenty of food for thought as he troubled Denmark throughout, eventually finding the winner on 68 minutes with a lovely caressed finish after Glen Johnson's storming forward run.

Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were on target as Argentina defeated Portugal 2-1. Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria opened the scoring after 14 minutes before club team-mate Ronaldo replied six minutes later. However, it was a Barcelona player who stole the show as Messi scored a penalty with just one minute remaining to secure a victory for the South American side.

In a replay of the 1998 World Cup final, France defeated Brazil 1-0 at Stade de France thanks to a goal from Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema. But France were given a helping hand in the first half when Brazil midfielder Hernanes was dismissed for a high challenge on Benzema.

Manchester City playmaker David Silva was on target for world champions Spain as they narrowly defeated Colombia 1-0 in Madrid. Silva struck with only four minutes remaining.

Wesley Sneijder continued his return to fitness with the opening goal for Netherlands as they claimed their sixth successive victory with a 3-1 win over Austria in Eindhoven. Sneijder had been out with a hamstring injury since late last year before returning for Inter against Bari last week.

However, he impressed in his 45 minutes at the Philips Stadion, scoring the opener just before the half hour with Ibrahim Afellay and Dirk Kuyt, with a penalty, also on target for the Dutch. Marko Arnautovic pulled one back with an 84th-penalty for Austria but it was Netherlands who completed their impressive form.

Germany failed to gain revenge for their 2006 World Cup semi-final defeat to Italy as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Cesare Prandelli's side at the Westfalenstadion.

APMiroslav Klose scored his 59th goal for Germany in their match against Italy

Miroslav Klose put Joachim Low's side ahead after 16 minutes with his 59th international goal, but Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi levelled for the Azzurri with just under 10 minutes remaining.

Scotland began their Carling Nations Cup campaign in impressive style by trouncing Northern Ireland 3-0 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Striker Kenny Miller celebrated wearing the armband for the first time by putting the Scots ahead from close range before James McArthur, a late replacement for Scott Brown who was injured in the warm up, scored his first international goal with a chip that might have been intended as a cross.

Kris Commons sealed the win six minutes after the break for Craig Levein's side, who played at times with untypical fluidity and flair and who probably deserved to have increased the margin of their victory.

Nikola Kalinic bagged an assured brace as Croatia powered to a 4-2 win over Czech Republic in friendly encounter in Pula. Former Arsenal forward Eduardo fired Croatia in front on ten minutes before Kalinic opened his account to double the lead three minutes later.

The Czechs pulled one back through Besiktas defender Tomas Sivok before Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky levelled just before the break. Blackburn striker Kalinic restored Croatia's lead just after the hour while substitute Ivo Ilicevic made sure of the win with the fourth 16 minutes from time.

Ioannis Fetfatzidis' 63rd-minute strike secured a 1-0 win for Greece against Canada, while one goal was all that separated Russia and Iran, the Iranians winning it thanks to Mohammad Reza Khalatbari's late effort.

Veseljko Trivunovic and Zoran Tosic were on target as Serbia defeated Israel 2-0 in Tel Aviv. Latvia won 2-1 against Bolivia, Macedonia slipped to a 1-0 reverse at the hands of Cameroon, Hungary were 2-0 winners in Azerbaijan, and Turkey and South Korea played out a goalless draw in Istanbul.

Two matches played as part of a friendly tournament in Cyprus went to penalty shoot-outs. Ukraine and Sweden played out a 1-1 draw in their game, the Swedes opening the scoring through Bolton's Johan Elmander before a Marco Devic penalty levelled for Ukraine. And it was Ukraine who prevailed on penalties, winning 5-4 in the shoot-out.

Romania also beat hosts Cyprus 5-4 on penalties after their match ended 1-1. Gabriel Torje opened the scoring for Romania ten minutes after the break but Cyprus equalised through Michael Constantinou late on.

In the Americas, Salomon Rondon scored twice as Venezuela drew 2-2 with Costa Rica, for whom Brian Ovideo and Marcos Urena were on target.

An own goal from Miralem Pranjic and a second-half strike from Edgar Ivan Pacheco helped Mexico beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0, and Honduras drew 1-1 with Ecuador.

Jerry Bengston netted early on for Honduras with Pablo Palacios responding for Ecuador, who won a penalty shoot-out at the end of the game 5-4.