Football: WC champs Spain draw, Brazil win

New Delhi: In a round of football friendlies played exactly a month after the final of the 2010 World Cup, champions Spain were held to a 1-1 draw by Mexico on Wednesday night at Mexico City.

In other matches, Brazil, Argentina and England shrugged off their World Cup disappointment with easy wins, while third-place Germany were held to a draw by Denmark.

Spain 1-1 Mexico

Substitute David Silva saved world champions Spain's blushes with a stoppage-time equaliser for a 1-1 draw. Mexico, who took a 12th-minute lead in the friendly through striker Javier Hernandez, had looked set to defeat Spain in their first outing since winning the World Cup in South Africa a month ago.

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Brazil 2-0 USA

After a World Cup where they failed to live up to expectations, the smiles appeared to return to Brazilian faces again on Tuesday after a new-look team beat the United States 2-0 in a friendly in New Jersey. The bright and lively performance from the team coached for the first time by Mano Menezes was in stark contrast to the downbeat displays of the Dunga squad knocked out in the quarter-finals by the Netherlands in South Africa.

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Argentina 1-0 Ireland

Argentina interim coach Sergio Batista strengthened his case to be given the job full time on Wednesday when his team won a friendly 1-0 against Ireland in Dublin. Batista is Argentina's youth team coach and is in temporary charge of the senior squad after Diego Maradona was fired following an inquest into the 4-1 World Cup quarterfinal defeat to Germany.

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England 2-1 Hungary

England too bounced back from the nadir of their dismal World Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory over Hungary, which suggested the future might not be as bleak as it seemed for Fabio Capello's men. Two superb goals from skipper Steven Gerrard in three minutes in the second half turned the game England's way after Hungary scored a controversial goal which did not appear to have crossed the line.

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Germany 2-2 Denmark

Denmark rallied from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Germany following Mads Junker's late equaliser. Germany led 1-0 in the 19th minute when Thomas Hitzlsperger's low cross found Mario Gomez, who sent it past a diving Thomas Sorensen in goal. Patrick Helmes scored a second goal after a German counterattack in the 73rd.

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Uruguay 2-0 Angola

World Cup semifinalists Uruguay produced a disappointing performance and needed late goals from strikers Edinson Cavani and Abel Hernandez to record a 2-0 friendly win over Angola. Uruguay missed Diego Forlan and strike partner Luis Suarez after they opted out of the squad for personal reasons.

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Russia 1-0 Bulgaria

New Russia coach Dick Advocaat also enjoyed a winning debut after a close-range volley from Roman Shirokov secured a 1-0 win over Bulgaria. Shirokov scored with an acrobatic volley in the sixth minute after goalkeeper Nikolai Mikhailov fumbled a cross from Andrei Arshavin in the bright sunshine of St Petersburg.

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