Willian scored his first goal for Brazil as they comfortably defeated Honduras 5-0 in Miami, with our three other Brazilians also featuring.
David Luiz captained the side in the absence of Thiago Silva, and went close to scoring with a header in the first half. He was replaced with 73 minutes played, by which time Brazil were four goals up. Oscar also started the game, making way for Ramires in the 65th minute. The latter went close to adding a sixth late on but his dinked effort was well saved.
But it was Willian who had the greatest impact on the game following his 47th minute introduction. It was his cross that Dante, the Bayern Munich defender, converted in the 55th minute to double Brazil’s advantage, Bernard having opened the scoring in the first period. Maicon netted a third before Willian, playing in his first game for Brazil since 2011, got in on the act himself, neatly converting a Hulk cut-back on 70 minutes to make the score 4-0.
Hulk added a fifth to ensure another emphatic Brazil friendly win. Our Brazilian quartet will be hoping for more game time when they face Chile, recent conquerors of England, in Toronto on Tuesday night local time.
Juan Mata played the full 90 minutes for Spain as they defeated Equatorial Guinea 2-1 in Malabo.
The world and European champions were far from their fluent best against the side ranked 119th in the world, but goals from Santi Cazorla and Juanfran proved sufficient to see off the West Africans’ valiant efforts.
Mata started on the left of a front three that also included the Manchester City duo of Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas, and our no.10 played a key role in the Spaniard’s opening goal. His looping cross 13 minutes into the game was inadequately dealt with by the Equatorial Guinea keeper and Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla was on hand to stab home the loose ball.
The home side threatened an upset when Jimmy Bermudez headed home an equaliser past Pepe Reina but Atletico Madrid’s Juanfran restored La Roja’s advantage before the interval, lashing the ball into the empty net after Navas’s cross was not cleared.
An even second period saw chances for both sides at a premium, though Spain thought they had added a third through Fernando Llorente, only for the Juventus frontman to be harshly denied by an offside flag. Spain now travel to South Africa for a game there on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere, former Blues Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou booked their place at the World Cup in Brazil next summer as their Ivory Coast side drew 1-1 in Senegal. Leading 3-1 from the first leg, the Elephants trailed to Moussa Sow’s second-half penalty but Kalou, now at Lille, put the tie beyond doubt with a 94th minute equaliser.