The winger scored one goal and created three others, for Sergio Aguero, Erik Lamela and Federico Fernandez, before Andre Schurrle and Mario Gotze replied for the stunned hosts

Angel Di Maria was the star of the show as Argentina impressively dismantled Germany 4-2 in Dusseldorf on Wednesday night.

The winger, who joined Manchester United for a British record transfer fee of €84 million last week, stole the show with an outstanding performance in the World Cup final re-match, giving fans of the Premier League club plenty of reason for cheer.

And while a friendly win – even one as resounding as this – did little to avenge their heartbreak in Brazil, Argentina could at least take heart from the fact that they ruined Germany’s homecoming party at the Esprit Arena.

Di Maria missed the World Cup final through injury, as Mario Gotze’s extra-time goal settled matters in Rio de Janeiro and gave Germany their fourth success on football’s grandest stage.

But the former Real Madrid attacker gave Germany left-back Eric Durm a torrid time on this occasion and set up Argentina’s first three goals, scored by Sergio Aguero, Erik Lamela and Federico Fernandez respectively.

Di Maria then got in on the act himself, extending their lead with an exquisite 50th-minute chip over Germany substitute Roman Weidenfeller, meaning Andre Schurrle’s quick response and Gotze’s deflected 78th-minute strike were no more than consolations for a Germany side who saw Mario Gomez miss a host of first-half chances.

Now retired from international duty, World Cup heroes Philipp Lahm, Miroslav Klose and Per Mertesacker were presented to the crowd before kick-off, but the trophy was not out of respect to Argentina.

New Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger and defenders Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng missed out through injury, while Argentina were also without several stars – Lionel Messi, Ezequiel Garay and Gonzalo Higuain all sidelined.

Gomez, leading the Germany line in the absence of Klose, missed a great chance to open the scoring when he was played through in the seventh minute, with the 29-year-old shooting straight at Sergio Romero.

At the other end, Di Maria looked lively and, having fired over, he then set up Aguero for the game’s first goal after 20 minutes.

Di Maria produced a superb cross with the outside of his left foot and Aguero did the rest, coolly volleying past Manuel Neuer from five yards.

Germany should have levelled when Gomez got on the end of a neat move that involved Christoph Kramer and Marco Reus, but the striker – again one-on-one with Romero – was denied by the goalkeeper’s trailing leg.

Argentina ramped up the pressure from there as the increasingly dominant Di Maria tested Neuer, while Aguero shot just wide twice and the substitution of Julian Draxler, taken off with a hamstring niggle, added to the visitors’ momentum.

Lamela then struck five minutes before half-time, cushioning a first-time volley into the top corner in stunning fashion after Di Maria had found him from the byline.

Germany’s plight was summed up by Gomez screwing an effort wide when Romero spilled Reus’ shot on the stroke of half-time and they found themselves three goals down in the 47th minute when Di Maria picked out Fernandez at the back post with an excellent free-kick.

Weidenfeller, who replaced Neuer at half-time, should have come for the ball but instead was reduced to the role of spectator as the Swansea City man rose above Matthias Ginter to score from close range.

And Di Maria quickly made it four, storming past Ginter to latch onto Pablo Zabaleta’s throughball before lifting an effort over Weidenfeller.

Schurrle responded in the 52nd minute, tapping in the rebound after he had initially volleyed straight at Romero, and Reus hit the post as Germany looked to restore some pride.

Gotze’s goal – which took a wicked deflection off Fernandez – reduced the margin further with 12 minutes to play.

It was not to be Germany’s night, though, as Di Maria stole the headlines with a superb solo performance.

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Goals from Kevin Doyle and Alex Pearce gave Martin O’Neill’s side their first win in seven games, helping them prepare for Sunday’s opening Euro 2016 qualifier with Georgia

Shay Given returned from international retirement as the Republic of Ireland defeated Oman thanks to a confident display in Dublin.

The 38-year-old goalkeeper had little to do as the visitors never threatened at the Aviva Stadium, with Martin O’Neill’s side capitalising on two corners to seal the win. Kevin Doyle met Robbie Brady’s delivery to open the scoring with his 14th international goal, while Alex Pearce netted his second in five international caps late on.

Ireland had not won in 10 months, since defeating Latvia 3-0 in November 2013, but will be buoyed by this comfortable performance ahead of their first Uefa European Championship qualifier with Georgia on Sunday, September 7.

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Playing with a young side, the U.S. coach saw his team hold off a late attack to earn a win in its first match since the 2014 World Cup.

Alejandro Bedoya provided the United States men’s national team with the perfect start on its road to Russia, scoring to lead the Yanks to a 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic on Wednesday night.

Bedoya swept home from a rebound six minutes before the interval to give the Americans all the cushion they would need on the evening. Nick Rimando produced several fine saves to protect the advantage under Czech pressure after the interval and seal an encouraging victory for this youthful side.

United States manager Jürgen Klinsmann rang the changes in a bid to introduce fresh faces at the start of this new World Cup cycle. His players rewarded him with an energetic performance with all of the bright spots and warts expected from a developing group stripped of many of its key figures.

This display will provide Klinsmann and his players with a platform to build upon in the three remaining friendlies this year. The home side will wonder how it failed to score given the chances it procured in the second half, but the result and the application throughout will bolster the Americans as they move forward with their preparations for next summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup and the next four years.

Klinsmann handed Joe Gyau his first cap as part of a 4-3-3 setup designed to commit numbers forward and press the initiative. The display led to plenty of exchanges in a largely open game, but both teams struggled to take advantages of the openings created with an accurate final ball.

Gyau mustered the first USA attempt on goal after 20 minutes, but the Czechs started to profit shortly thereafter as the Americans left themselves exposed with their inability to produce the killer pass in the final third. The balance in central midfield — manned by three attacking players in Bedoya, Diskerud and Joe Corona — and the enterprising fullbacks invited the Czechs to counter.

Vaclav Pilar looked the brightest operator for the home side and sparked the best move of the opening stanza. The four-versus-two break from a corner ended with Tomas Rosicky squaring toward the far post and Vladimir Darida turning into the side netting with the goal gaping in front of him.

Darida compounded his miss with a loose touch from an ill-advised pass from Petr Cech out of the back. Diskerud anticipated the error and stormed forward to punish the Czechs for their shoddy work on the ball. Cech saved Diskerud’s initial low attempt, but Bedoya finished off his run and slotted home his second career international goal to give the Americans the lead.

The goal shortly before halftime buoyed the Americans’ confidence and sparked a bright start to the second half, with several extended spells in possession. Bedoya prompted another stop from Cech to punctuate the encouraging opening period, but the Czechs eventually found their footing and pulled Nick Rimando into action.

Rimando produced a fine kick save on the hour after Ladislav Krejci slipped behind the line. He then summoned an even better stop five minutes to deny Darida’s angled drive as the Czechs attempted to restore parity.

The inevitable raft of substitutions — including USA debuts for Greg Garza and Emerson Hyndman — reduced the Czech cohesiveness and stretched the game even further. Garza recovered well to poke away at the far post to cut out another threat, while Tim Ream interjected at the right moment to head away a threatening cross.

The home side huffed and puffed against the bending American defense, but it could not find a way to break the resistance with its woeful final touch. Daniel Pudil skied his first-time attempt in the final 10 minutes before Radim Reznik forced Rimando to parry and then squandered the rebound by thrashing it over the bar.

Rimando summoned one last block two minutes from time to protect the result one last time and ensure the Americans mustered the desired start on their road to Russia.

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Roy Hodgson’s new captain scored the only goal of the game from the spot as the Three Lions warmed up for their first Euro 2016 qualifier in front of a half-empty Wembley crowd

Wayne Rooney began his tenure as England captain with a goal as the Three Lions beat Norway 1-0 in a friendly at Wembley.

Roy Hodgson’s side, preparing for their first match of Euro 2016 qualifying on Monday, played to a sparse crowd of just 40,181 after their disastrous World Cup campaign and were unable to make a breakthrough before half-time in an unimpressive performance.

The moment came when Omar Elabdellaoui felled Raheem Sterling in the penalty box 67 minutes into the game, whereupon Rooney stepped up to blast home his 41st international goal, taking him above Michael Owen in the country’s all-time highest-scorers list, with only Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Jimmy Greaves still ahead of him.

England’s performance will do little to boost confidence ahead of their test against Switzerland on Monday, while Norway will hope to cause an upset when they host Italy on Tuesday.

Hodgson, who was facing the same opponents as when he made his bow as England boss in May 2012, handed a first international start to Everton defender John Stones – the only newcomer in a starting XI that featured 10 members of the squad who went to the World Cup.

And it was the hosts who applied the early pressure at a half-empty Wembley, with Leighton Baines curling over from a fifth-minute free kick before Sterling and Sturridge almost unlocked the visiting defence.

Sturridge slipped the ball to the teenager in the penalty area but saw his eventual effort blocked after getting on the end of a backheeled return pass from his Reds team-mate.

Phil Jones guided a header just wide of the right-hand post from a corner in the 17th minute as England continued to look the most likely to break the deadlock, before Mohamed Elyounoussi drew a rare save from Joe Hart with a speculative effort from 20 yards.

Sterling and Sturridge linked up well once again in a move that eventually saw the latter put the ball on the roof of the net but an opening goal continued to prove elusive.

Jack Wilshere saw appeals for a penalty turned down before half-time, with replays suggesting that he may have gone down too easily under the challenge of Havard Nordtveit.

Joshua King forced Hart into a one-handed diving save from a corner five minutes into the second half – the best chance of the match at either end to that point.

Norway’s early second-half momentum was halted somewhat when Cardiff City midfielder Mats Daehli required lengthy treatment after a coming together with Sterling, subsequently making way for Anders Konradsen.

England finally broke the deadlock 22 minutes from time when Rooney buried his penalty to the right of goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.

With the European Championship expanded to 24 teams for 2016, England’s involvement is unlikely to be in doubt but their performance on Wednesday will do little to restore confidence following their World Cup nightmare.

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