( CNN ) -- Argentina battled to victory on Wednesday night in the team 's first match since Diego Maradona 's reign ended , while new France coach Laurent Blanc suffered defeat after dropping all 23 World Cup players . The South Americans ' caretaker coach Sergio Batista fielded eight of the players who started in last month 's 4-0 World Cup quarterfinal thrashing by Germany in the friendly away to the Republic of Ireland , and came away with a 1-0 win thanks to Angel Di Maria 's first-half winner . The new Real Madrid winger 's 20th-minute goal -- which came despite claims of offside -- meant the Irish could not celebrate the first football international at Dublin 's new Aviva Stadium , which also marked the 100th appearance by captain Robbie Keane . Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni missed the match , with the 71-year-old Italian in hospital after needing stomach surgery following complications from a bout of food poisoning . Blanc fielded eight new internationals against Norway following France 's World Cup debacle , but his team lost 2-1 in Oslo despite taking the lead through halftime substitute Hatem Ben Arfa . Forward Erik Huseklepp capitalized on two defensive errors as France 's poor run continued , having crashed out of the World Cup in the first round in June following a player revolt against then coach Raymond Domenech . World Cup winners Spain snatched a late draw away to Mexico thanks to David Silva 's late equalizer after new Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez had scored in the 12th minute . Runners-up the Netherlands were also held to a 1-1 draw away to Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine , with midfielder Jeremain Lens putting the Dutch ahead before Alexander Aliev leveled two minutes later on 74 . World Cup semifinalists Germany led Denmark 2-0 before the hosts battled back to earn a 2-2 draw in Copenhagen . The Germans , who finished third in South Africa , went ahead through strikers Mario Gomez ( 19 ) and Patrick Helmes ( 73 ) but Danish substitute Mads Junker set up winger Dennis Rommedahl and then equalized with four minutes to play . Uruguay , who also reached the last four , won 2-0 away to Angola thanks to goals in the last six minutes from striker Edinson Cavani and young debutant forward Abel Hernandez . New Russia coach Dick Advocaat tasted victory in his first match in charge , beating Bulgaria 1-0 in St. Petersburg thanks to a sixth-minute winner from midfielder Roman Shirokov . South Africa also started a new era on a winning note as coach Pitso Mosimane oversaw a 1-0 victory against World Cup quarterfinalists Ghana in Johannesburg . Striker Katlego Mphela scored the only goal three minutes before halftime , having also netted in the 2-1 win over France in South Africa 's final group match of the World Cup on June 22 . Earlier in the day , five-time world champions Brazil made a winning start under new coach Mano Menezes , beating the United States 2-0 in New Jersey . Teenage striker Neymar scored on his senior debut and recalled AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato netted the other goal as Menezes gave six players their first Brazil outings . The friendlies were part of a large schedule of internationals held in preparation for next month 's start of qualifiers for Euro 2012 and the 2012 African Nations Cup , and January 's Asian Cup .
Ghana beat Ireland 1 -0 in team 's first match since Mario Gomez reign ended . New France coach Laurent Blanc suffers 2 -1 defeat in South Africa after axing World Cup 23 . World champions Spain and runners-up Netherlands held to 1 -1 draws . World Cup 23 hosts Spain beat quarterfinalists Ghana 1 -0 in Johannesburg .