Pedersen spoils Given's day with Norway win

The Blackburn midfielder ruined keeper Shay Given's record 109th appearance for Ireland by curling home a superb 34th-minute free-kick to cancel out Shane Long's fifth-minute penalty.

But there was worse to come for Giovanni Trapattoni's men when Pedersen provided the cross from which Erik Huseklepp scored the winner with just four minutes remaining.

A late penalty from Rory Patterson spared Northern Ireland goalkeeper Alan Blayney's blushes in a low-key 1-1 friendly against Morocco last night.

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.

A Lionel Messi wonder goal saw Argentina narrowly edge out Brazil 1-0 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.

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.

Roque Santa Cruz scored twice as Paraguay crushed Hong Kong 7-0.

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.

Second-half goals from Luka Pejovic and Fatos Beciraj saw Montenegro to a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan.