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Young upstages Wilshere as England beat Denmark

Ashley Young slid home England's winner against Denmark © PA Photos

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Jack Wilshere's first England start was eclipsed by the outstanding second-half performance of Ashley Young as England came from behind to beat Denmark 2-1 at the Parken Stadion.

Wilshere has been labelled England's brightest hope for the future by Fabio Capello, but he had little chance to make an impact during a tough first half, which saw Denmark lead through Daniel Agger before Darren Bent equalised. The Arsenal man was withdrawn at the break along with Wayne Rooney, and Young made the most of his opportunity with the winning goal.

Capello took the gamble of partnering Arsenal teenager Wilshere, a player he likened to Paulo Maldini, alongside Frank Lampard at the heart of England's midfield, but the decision only served to invite sustained Denmark pressure in a largely one-sided first half. The home side led after only seven minutes through Agger's header and, after Bent equalised for England, Denmark will have felt justifiably frustrated not to have led by two or three at half-time.

The tone was set inside three minutes as Nicklas Bendtner latched onto a Glen Johnson mistake to drive wide of the far post, although Rooney should then have scored at the other end when his goalbound shot was cleared off the line by Mathias Jorgensen.

Agger's goal was created by the excellent Christian Eriksen, whose cross was perfect for the Liverpool centre-back after he had lost Michael Dawson inside the area. However, within three minutes England were level, with Capello's other intriguing selection - Darren Bent - doing what he does best to stab home Theo Walcott's cross from two yards.

England failed to build on that equaliser, and Joe Hart's goal led a charmed life for the rest of the opening 45 minutes. First Eriksen drifted onto his left foot to slam a low shot against Hart's left post, and then the Manchester City keeper made an outstanding save to deny Dennis Rommedahl, stretching out his right foot to frustrate the former Charlton man.

Lampard, captaining the side in the absence of Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard, had a goal disallowed close to the interval, flicking Walcott's shot into the corner only to see the flag correctly raised.

Capello made changes at the break, withdrawing Wilshere and the ineffective Rooney, and the Manchester United man's replacement Ashley Young so nearly carved out a second goal for Bent with his first touch, delivering a superbly dinked cross that Thomas Sorensen did well to spoil in Peter Schmeichel-like fashion.

Young's second-half performance will have given Capello plenty of food for thought as he troubled Denmark throughout, eventually finding the winner on 68 minutes with a lovely caressed finish after Johnson's storming forward run.

Kenny Miller captained Scotland to victory over Northern Ireland © Getty Images

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Scotland deservedly beat Northern Ireland in the Four Nations tournament, triumphing 3-0 thanks to goals from Kenny Miller, James McArthur and Kris Commons.

Craig Levein had to deal with a last-minute injury ahead of kick-off, with McArthur replacing Scott Brown after the Celtic man tweaked a hamstring. However, it did not affect Scotland's start as Miller tapped home from close range on 19 minutes after the ball had fallen loose inside the Ireland penalty area.

McArthur then added an eye-catching second, although there will be plenty of debate as to whether he meant to find the net. Picking the ball up on the edge of the area, McArthur glanced up before aiming a cross-cum-shot to the back post, dropping the ball into the far top corner. Commons then added a third early in the second period following an excellent Scotland move.

Brazil were forced to play the majority of their friendly against France with 10 men, after Anderson Hernanes was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Karim Benzema. Hernanes raised his boot into Benzema's shoulder to receive his marching orders, and France went on to win 1-0 at the Stade de France.

Benzema was the man to break Brazil's resistance, although he owed much of the credit for his goal to Jeremy Menez, who beat two Brazilian defenders before delivering a lovely cross for the Real Madrid forward to attack.

Germany and Italy matched each other in the battle of two international heavyweights at Signal Iduna Park, drawing 1-1. The prolific Miroslav Klose opened the scoring on 16 minutes, but Villarreal's Giuseppe Rossi equalised nine minutes from time.

Netherlands enjoyed a routine victory over Austria at the PSV Stadium, winning 3-1. Wesley Sneijder made the breakthrough for the Dutch on the half hour, before Barcelona's Ibrahim Afellay doubled that advantage five minutes into the second period. Dirk Kuyt then added a third from the penalty spot, before Marko Arnautovic found a consolation for Austria.

In the battle of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at Estadio Monumental, it was the Barcelona man who had the last laugh as Argentina beat Portugal 2-1. Ronaldo's Real Madrid team-mate Angel Di Maria grabbed the game's opening goal, but the former Manchester United man found an equaliser for Portugal on 20 minutes. However, Argentina won a last-minute penalty and, just as he did against Brazil back in November, Messi snatched the win for the South Americans.

And at the Santiago Bernabeu, Spain ran out 1-0 victors against Colombia with David Silva providing the winner four minutes from time.

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