Messi strikes late for Argentina

International friendlies:Lionel Messi scored a superb goal two minutes into added time to give Argentina a 1-0 win over Brazil in tonight's friendly in Doha to register their first win over their arch-rivals in five years.

Messi settled an even contest in the final minute, the Barcelona star picking up Ezequiel Lavezzi’s pass before slaloming past four defenders and stroking the ball home into the corner of the net.

AC Milan playmaker Ronaldinho, back in the Brazil squad for the first time in 19 months, enjoyed a solid performance on his return to the team but failed to cap it with a goal as Sergio Romero enjoyed a good night in the Argentina goal.

A late penalty from Rory Patterson spared Northern Ireland goalkeeper Alan Blayney’s blushes in a low-key 1-1 draw against Morocco.

Substitute Blayney handed the visitors the lead on a wet and windy night at Windsor Park when he miscontrolled a backpass and his clearance rebounded into the net off Arsenal’s Marouane Chamakh.

Blayney then partially redeemed himself by tipping a fierce Adil Hermach drive onto the bar and Patterson stepped up to force a draw after Josh McQuoid was fouled five minutes from time.

Belgium eased to a 2-0 win over Russia in Voronezh. Romelu Lukaku proved the difference between the two sides with a goal in each half, first tapping home after two minutes when Eden Hazard dispossessed Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and centred for the Anderlecht striker.

Lukaku added his second 17 minutes from time with a low drive from just inside the area.

Bosnia-Herzegovina defeated Slovakia 3-2 in an entertaining encounter in Bratislava. Filip Sebo fired Slovakia ahead after three minutes but Haris Medunjanin levelled shortly before the half-hour.

Miralem Pjanic fired Bosnia ahead after 50 minutes and Edin Dzeko made it 3-1 on the hour. Peter Grajciar pulled one back for the hosts 24 minutes from time but that was the end of the scoring.

Roque Santa Cruz scored twice as Paraguay crushed Hong Kong 7-0. The Manchester City forward opened the scoring for the World Cup quarter-finalists after just five minutes. Edgar Barreto added a second just after the half-hour before Santa Cruz completed his brace in the 33rd minute.

Nestor Ortigoza made it 4-0 two minutes into the second half and the midfielder scored again in the 54th minute. Late goals from Marcos Riveros and Cristian Riveros completed the rout. Substitute Yang Xu headed home in stoppage time to hand China a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Latvia at Kunming Tuodong Stadium, while Oman suffered a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Belarus.

Oman fell behind after only five minutes when Alyaksandr Martynovich scored, and the 23-year-old defender added his second goal of the night six minutes later. Vyacheslav Hleb added the third goal for Belarus after 35 minutes before Vitali Rodionov scored the fourth in the 57th minute. Second-half goals from Luka Pejovic and Fatos Beciraj saw Montenegro to a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan.

Birmingham striker Nikola Zigic proved the difference as Serbia posted a 1-0 win over Bulgaria, the giant striker firing home from inside the area 10 minutes from time.

Tamas Priskin and Balazs Dzsudzsak were on target as Hungary beat Lithuania 2-0 while Albania and Macedonia played out a goalless draw.

Israel were 3-2 winners against Iceland, Kuwait were held to a 1-1 draw by Asian champions Iraq at Bani Yas stadium and Saudi Arabia and Ghana drew 0-0. Strikes from Ahmed Abdul-Zaher, Mohamed Nagy and Mohamed Zidan saw Egypt to a comfortable 3-0 win over Australia.