2012 International Friendlies: Brazil, England, Argentina Among Those In Action

Belgium Vs. Netherlands 2012: Final Score, Dries Mertens Dominates In 4-2 Win

Belgium and the Netherlands both played young teams on Wednesday to get a look at some new players before World Cup qualifying starts, and they put on a show. Belgium jumped out to an early lead, but Holland went on to take control of the game. They led well into the second half before Dries Mertens decided to completely take over the game, and he led Belgium to a 4-2 victory.

The opening goal came by way of Christian Benteke in the 20th minute. Even though the opportunity itself was a bit lucky, but there was nothing lucky about the finish. The ball fell to Benteke on a big deflection, but he took a brilliant first touch, than an even better second touch to beat his defender before powering a great finish into the net from 10 yards.

Early in the second half, Holland turned the game around, thanks to Arjen Robben. He played mostly on the right under Bert van Marwijk, but Louis van Gaal had him on the left side of midfield in the second half. He used his pace and left foot to create both goals, just one minute apart. Both were tap-ins off low crosses, with Luciano Narsingh netting in the 54th minute and Klass-Jan Huntelaar netting one minute later.

Dries Mertens entered the game in the 67th minute, and even though no one knew it at the time, this effectively ended the game. He made a spectacular zig-zagging run through the Dutch defense in the 76th minute before equalizing with a great strike. In the 78th minute, he beat the entire defense again before putting in a cross that deflected to Romelu Lukaku, who volleyed past Maarten Stekelenberg. Another two minutes later, he did it again, setting up Jan Verthongen for Belgium's fourth goal.

International friendlies right before the start of the European club season should probably not be a thing, but at least Holland and Belgium made this one fun.

England Vs. Italy 2012: Defoe's Moment of Brilliance Gives Three Lions a 2-1 Win

After a fairly pedestrian 80 minutes of soccer, Jermaine Defoe's lovely strike from distance gave England a late winner over Italy in front of a sparse crowd at the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf.

Italy opened the scoring in the 15th minute of a fairly pedestrian header from Daniele De Rossi. The Roma man was able to find plenty of space between the England defender and get his head on Alessandro Diamanti's corner. The ball wasn't sent towards net with a lot of force, but it had enough to squeeze between the crossbar and the extended fingertips of goalkeeper Jack Butland.

Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, I mean, Mattia Destro looked dangerous on a couple long ball over the top of the English defense. Fortunately for Hodgsen's men, he wasn't able to handle the first ball and the second one, despite a fantastic first touch to corral it, was wasted with a rushed shot.

After a clever bit of combination play between Adam Johnson and Kyle Walker earned a corner, Phil Jagielka equalized for England with his first career international goal in the 27th minute. Frank Lampard's corner kick was a bit low towards the center of the box and Jagielka was about to wrestle ahead of defender Federico Balzaretti, putting his head near the Italians boot as he headed the ball at the undefended far post.

Despite the goals, it wasn't the most of enthralling halves of soccer you'll ever see...at least not enough to keep this guy awake.

England's other young goalkeeper John Ruddy took over for Butland at halftime as Hodgson looked to get both men some international experience. Andy Carroll, who was largely ineffective, left at halftime in favor of Jermaine Defoe.

Gary Cahill unleashed a sweet strike in the 66th minute that found the back of the net...unfortunately, Joleon Lescott was whistled for a foul in the box before the shot as he wrestled with an Italian defender. Cahill seemed none to pleased with the call, a rightly so, both players had fistfuls of jersey, but alas the half plodded on.

Ryan Bertrand's clearance off the line in the 79th minute allowed England to counter attack and led to the match winner. England quickly moved the ball forward before getting the ball on the foot on Jermaine Defoe who danced around a defender and launched a wicked shot that glanced off the fingers of a diving Salvatore Sirigu before deflecting back in to the net off the post. After some pretty listless soccer, it was a welcome moment of brilliance from the Spurs forward.

In conclusion, I'm sure both coaches saw some things that will help them moving forward but for the rest of us, international friendlies are...well, you know.

Brazil Vs. Sweden 2012: Final Score, 3-0 To Selecao Thanks To Leandro Damiao, Pato

Brazil's magical, seemingly endless summer tour has finally come to a conclusion, and their players can return to their club teams. They washed off the disappointment of their Olympic silver medal, outplaying Sweden for 90 minutes in Stockholm and coasting to a 3-0 victory.

Leandro Damiao scored the opening goal 32 minutes in, an easy tap-in header. Neymar made the goal, beating his man down the left flank as per usual and lofting a cross towards the far post. Damiao put himself in the perfect spot and nodded the ball into the net.

The game was rather uneventful for most of the second half until Alexandre Pato came off the bench and made his presence known. The often injured AC Milan man has had a solid (and relatively healthy) summer, and Milanistas will hope what they saw today was a glimpse into the future. He scored quick back-to-back goals to end the game, netting a close-range header in the 84th minute and a penalty in the 86th minute to seal an emphatic win for Brazil.

France Vs. Uruguay 2012: Lineups

France and Uruguay are taking their friendly at Stade Oceane in Le Havre, France at least semi-seriously. The French are giving a couple new guys a look, but for the most part are playing a first team and the Uruguayans are going with their first team all the way through, albeit a slightly different style team as they set up in a 3-4-3. That means that as far as friendlies go, France and Uruguay could put on one of the more entertaining shows possible.

Can Diego Lugano still keep up with the lines of Karim Benzema? Will Mathieu Debuchy be able to fly forward and get into the attack with the Uruguays looking to get wide and pin him back? Let's find out.

France (4-4-2): Hugo Lloris; Mathieu Debuchy, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Mamadou Sakho, Patrice Evra; Mathieu Valbuena, Rio Mavuba, Maxime Gonalons, Franck Ribery; Karim Benzema, Olivier Giroud.

Uruguay (3-4-3): Fernando Muslera; Mauricio Victorino, Diego Lugano, Diego Godin; Maxi Pereira, Diego Perez, Walter Gargano, Alvaro Pereira; Cristian Rodriguez, Sebastian Abreu, Diego Forlan.

The match gets underway at 3:00 p.m. ET. You can catch it live online on ESPN3.com in the United States and on Univision Deportes in Spanish.

We'll have live updates of this and other friendlies on Wednesday in our international friendlies StoryStream.

England Vs. Italy 2012: Lineups

England and Italy meet-up in Bern, Switzerland at the Wankdorfstadion (giggle) in both team's first matches since Euro 2012.

Roy Hodgson is dealing with some injuries, the biggest being to starting goalkeeeper Joe Hart. In his place, 19-year-old Jack Butland will get a chance to get some experience on the international stage. Andy Carroll and Adam Johnson, two players at the center of loan rumors, get a chance to dress up thier figurative shop windows a bit today.

Italy's Cesare Prandelli has offered up a fairly pedestrian lineups with some potential faces for the future. The central midfield remains strong with Alberto Aquilani, Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Nocerino. The attack will be anchored by the youthful duo of Stephan El Shaarawy and Mattia Destro.

England (4-5-1): Jack Butland; Kyle Walker, Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill, Leighton Baines; Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard, Adam Johnson, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley; Andy Carroll.

Italy (4-3-3): Salvatore Sirigu; Ignazio Abate, Angelo Ogbonna, Davide Astori, Federico Balzaretti; Antonio Nocerino, Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani; Alessandro Diamanti, Stephan El Shaarawy, Mattia Destro.

The match kicks-off at 3:00pm ET from Bern. If you're in the United States, you're out of luck if you want to watch the match as it's not being carried by any network or streamed online.

We'll have live updates of this and other friendlies on Wednesday in our international friendlies StoryStream.

Belgium Vs. Netherlands 2012: Lineups

Both the Netherlands and Belgium are going with very young and very attacking lineups for their Wednesday friendly. Holland's lineup looks like a 4-3-3, but who knows how it'll actually play in practice. Probably a lot of guys running around and swapping positions in a fluid attacking front five. Total football returns! Belgium is playing Jan Verthongen out of position at left back and has smallish, usually wide forward Kevin Mirallas at center forward. He played more striker last year in Olympiakos and led the Greek league in scoring.

Netherlands lineup (4-3-3): Stekelenburg; Willems, Heitinga, Mathijsen, van Rhijn ; De Jong, van der Vaart Sneijder; Robben, Huntelaar, Narsingh

Belgium Lineup (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Verthongen, van Buyten, Vermaelen, Gillet; Defour, Witsel; Hazard, Chadli, Benteke; Mirallas

Kickoff is at 2:45 p.m. ET from Brussels. You can catch the game on ESPN Deportes in the United States, and it's also streaming on ESPN3.

We'll have live updates of this and other friendlies on Wednesday in our international friendlies StoryStream.

Brazil Vs. Sweden 2012: Lineups

Lineups are out for today's friendly between Brazil and Sweden. Brazil head coach Mano Menezes, fresh off a disappointing silver medal at the Olympics turns his attention back to the senior side with a collection of familiar faces in the starting XI. Menezes will not escape from under the heavy of weight of criticism being heaped on him at the moment, but anything less than a win could expedite the potential end of his tenure with the national team.

Sweden meanwhile play their first match since their group stage exit from the European Championships earlier this summer. A quick look at the lineup shows no Zlatan Ibrahimovic who has already begun his league season with PSG. No Zlatan makes everyone sad.

Brazil (4-2-3-1): Gabriel Ferreira; Alex Sandro, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Dani Alves; Romulo, Paulinho; Neymar, Oscar, Ramires; Leandro Damiao

Sweden (4-2-3-1): Isaksson; S. Larsson, Granqvist, J. Olsson, Safari; Holmén, Wernbloom; Elm, Toivonen, Wilhemsson; Berg

The match kicks at 2:00pm ET from Stockholm. You can watch it on GolTV in the United States.

We'll have live updates of this and other friendlies on Wednesday in our international friendlies StoryStream.

Spain Vs. Puerto Rico 2012: Why?

Why are Spain and Puerto Rico playing an August friendly? What the hell?

Belgium Vs. Netherlands 2012: Rode Duivels Begin Their World Domination

New eras begin for Belgium and the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Scotland Vs. Australia, 2012 Friendly: Surprisingly A Thing!

Scotland and Australia are playing on television because reasons.

France Vs. Uruguay 2012: Game Time, TV Schedule, Live Updates And More

Edinson Cavani isn't playing, but Uruguay vs. France should still be fun. Didier Deschamps is making his debut as France manager.

Mexico Vs. USA 2012 Preview: Game Time, TV Schedule, Live Updates And More

The United States heads to Estadio Azteca for a clash with Mexico and another edition of CONCACAF's best rivalry.

Germany Vs. Argentina 2012: Game Time, TV Schedule, Live Updates And More

Germany takes on Argentina in a high-profile World Cup qualifiers warm-up.

England Vs. Italy 2012: Game Time, TV Schedule And Preview

Italy vs. England. In Switzerland. Three days before the start of the Premier League season. Prepare yourselves for the least meaningful friendly date on the calendar!

Brazil Vs. Sweden 2012: Game Time, TV Schedule, Live Updates And More

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sweden take on Brazil, who have added some senior players to their Olympic team for this friendly.