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Friendlies round-up

Image: Valdez celebrates his opener for Paraguay

Paraguay got the better of New Zealand, while Uruguay proved too strong for China.

Paraguay sink All Whites, Uruguay crush China

Paraguay got the better of New Zealand in a repeat of their World Cup meeting, while Uruguay proved too strong for China. New Zealand earned a goalless draw with Paraguay in the group stages of the World Cup, but the South Americans gained some measure of revenge with a 2-0 win in their friendly meeting. Nelson Valdez gave Paraguay the lead from the penalty spot on 22 minutes and Osvaldo Martinez doubled the advantage five minutes later. New Zealand's misery was compounded when West Ham's Winston Reid was sent off in the 89th minute for a crude challenge on Federico Santander. World Cup semi-finalists Uruguay thumped China 4-0 but left it late at the Wuhan Sports Centre. Uruguay were gifted the lead on 70 minutes when Feng Xiaoting put through his own net and Edinson Cavani added a second nine minutes later. Gabriel Rodriguez and Bruno Fernandez added further goals in the last 10 minutes to seal the rout. Croatia came from behind to beat Norway 2-1 in their friendly clash. Mohammed Abdellaoue gave Norway the lead on 20 minutes, but Mario Mandzukic drew Croatia level on 34 minutes. Tottenham midfielder Niko Kranjcar grabbed the winner for Croatia four minutes after the restart. Former Birmingham striker Christian Benitez scored twice as Ecuador drew 2-2 with Poland. Benitez gave Ecuador the lead on 32 minutes, but Poland turned the game in their favour with goals from Ebi Smolarek (61) and Ludovic Obraniak (70). Benitez earned Ecuador a draw with an equaliser 12 minutes from time. Japan held South Korea to a goalless draw at Seoul World Cup Stadium to avoid suffering a hat-trick of defeats at the hands of their regional rivals in the space of eight months. Keisuke Honda had Japan's best chance after 26 minutes with a fierce half-volley that was tipped over by Jung Sung-ryeong in the Korean goal. South Korea had the better chances after the break and could have gone ahead just before the hour mark, with only a goalline clearance from Yuto Nagatomo keeping out a header from Park Chu-young. Bulgaria, who are in the same Euro 2012 qualifying group as England and Wales, picked up a 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia in their friendly encounter. Dimitar Rangelov broke the deadlock for Bulgaria five minutes before the break and Valeri Domovchiyski added a second right on the stroke of half-time. Manchester United youngster Javier Hernandez was on target for Mexico as they rallied to tie Venezuela in a 2-2 draw. Juan Arango twice put the visitors ahead only to see his goals cancelled out by strikes from Hernandez (34) and Tottenham midfielder Giovani dos Santos (61). USA and Colombia played out a turgid 0-0 stalemate in Pennsylvania, while Panama saw off 10-man Peru 1-0. Carlos Zambrano was given his marching orders after just 23 minutes but Panama still failed to grab the match-winner until the 76th minute, when Gabriel Torres found the back of the net. Chile ran out 1-0 winners against Oman with Pedro Morales scoring the only goal of the game on 23 minutes.

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