International round-up: Lionel Messi will not be denied as Argentina see off Germans

Germany substitute goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved the Barcelona star’s weak penalty with his first touch of the ball. The 20-year-old Ter Stegen had just replaced Ron-Robert Zieler, who became Germany’s first goalkeeper to be sent off in an international for bringing down Jose Sosa in the 30th minute.

Argentina took the lead in first-half injury time, when Semi Khedira deflected Angel di Maria’s corner into his own net, before Messi made amends for his earlier miss by scoring in the 52nd minute.

Didier Deschamps’ first match in charge of France ended in a 0-0 draw with Uruguay and boos from the crowd. Les Bleus dominated from start to finish but struggled to find a way through the Uruguay  defence, although they hit the post twice. On the rare  occasions they did have a sight of goal, Uruguay goalkeeper Fer ando Muslera was up to the challenge.

The Netherlands continued their poor form from Euro 2012 as they fell 4-2 at neighbours Belgium. Luciano Narsingh and Klaas Jan Huntelaar had cancelled out Christian Benteke’s early opener for the home side, but further goals from Dries Mertens, Romelu Lukaku and Jan Vertonghen gave the Belgians an excellent win.

There were no such concerns for Brazil, who beat Sweden 3-0 away in Solna with the first from Leandro Damiao on 32 minutes and a brace in the final six minutes from Alexandre Pato.

Croatia were stunned 4-2 by Switzerland in Split, with Mario Gavranovic’s double helping the Swiss to victory, while Russia were held 1-1 in Moscow by the Ivory Coast.