( CNN ) -- Lionel Messi scored a superb late goal to give Argentina a 1-0 victory over South American rivals Brazil in a prestige friendly international in Qatar on Wednesday . The world player of the year struck in time added on to give Argentina a first win in five years against the five-time world champions , who they will meet again in La Plata on December 19 . The diminutive Barcelona gathered a pass from substitute Ezequiel Lavezzi and waltzed in from the right flank past four defenders before angling a low left-foot shot into the corner of the net . It was Messi 's first goal against Brazil , who recalled Ronaldinho for the first time since April 2009 . `` It 's always important to win and this victory is even more important because it 's against a direct rival and it gives us confidence , '' Messi told AFP . `` My goal was important because it enabled us to beat Brazil . '' It was Brazil 's first defeat in four matches under new coach Mano Menezes , who replaced Dunga after the team lost in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup . Sergio Batista , however , triumphed in his first match as fulltime Argentina coach as his side bounced back from the 1-0 defeat by Japan while he was still in temporary charge . Brazil 's Dani Alves hit the crossbar in the first half , while Messi fired a shot which grazed the woodwork . The United States beat 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa 1-0 in Cape Town thanks to a late goal from teenage debutant Juan Agudelo . The Colombia-born forward , who turns 18 next week , scored the only goal with five minutes to play after being set up by fellow newcomer Mikkel Diskerud -- a 20-year-old Norwegian midfielder whose mother is from Arizona . It was South Africa 's first defeat in four matches since the World Cup , with England-based striker David Somma -- who lived in the U.S. in his early teens -- making his debut for Bafana Bafana . Paraguay romped to a 7-0 win away to Hong Kong , with striker Roque Santa Cruz scoring twice in the first half and Jose Ortigoza netting twice in the second . Edgar Barreto , Marcos Riveros and Cristian Riveros were also on target for the World Cup quarterfinalists . African champions Egypt crushed Australia 3-0 in Cairo , with first-half goals from Ahmed Abd El-Zaher and Gedo before Mohamed Zidan scored a last-minute penalty . The Ivory Coast lost 3-1 to Poland in Poznan as young striker Robert Lewandowski scored twice for the home side . Gervinho equalized just before halftime but Ludovic Obraniak put Poland ahead again on 64 before the 22-year-old Lewandowski struck for his second with 10 minutes to play . Morocco drew 1-1 with Northern Ireland in Belfast as striker Marouane Chamakh scored an opportunist opener in the 56th minute before Rory Patterson leveled with a penalty with four minutes left . In other games involving African teams , Malawi beat Rwanda 2-1 , Ghana drew 0-0 away to Saudi Arabia , Mali defeated the visiting Congo Republic 3-1 , Senegal beat Gabon 2-1 and Algeria drew 0-0 with Luxembourg . China defeated European minnows Latvia 1-0 in Kunming thanks to a header in time added on from substitute Yang Xu . Oman crashed to a 4-0 home defeat by Belarus , for whom defender Alyaksandr Martynovich scored twice in the first 11 minutes . Kuwait were held 1-1 at home by Asian champions Iraq .
Cape Town beat Hong Kong for the first time in five years in friendly international in United States . Lionel Messi scores the only goal of the game with a solo effort in injury-time . United States beat 2010 World Cup hosts Paraguay 7 -0 in Cape Town . World Cup quarterfinalists Paraguay thrash Hong Kong 7 -0 in another friendly .