Italy, Turkey, France win in pre-World Cup friendly

ST. GALLEN, May 29 (Agencies): Mari Balotelli marked his return to the Italy team with the opening goal as the Azzurri beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in an international friendly on Monday in Roberto Mancini's first match in charge.

Balotelli, who last played for Italy in the 2014 World Cup, broke the deadlock in the 21st minute and Andrea Belotti doubled his side's advantage before Yahya Al-Shehri pulled one back thanks to two errors in the Italian defence.

Meanwhile, the Iranian team, Spain's opponents in the World Cup in Russia, suffered their first defeat on their way to the tournament, losing 1-2 to Turkey in a friendly match in Istanbul on Monday.

Turkey's striker Cenk Tosun, who plays for Everton in England, took the opportunity to score in the sixth minute of the game after a quality pass from Mehmet Topal.

In another match, French national football team easily beat Ireland 2-0 in a friendly match, despite the torrential rain that fell on Saint Denis, with goals from Olivier Giroud and Nabil Fekir.

The French team, led by Coach Didier Deschamps, who was determined to give his star striker Antoine Griezmann a rest, played with an attack line formed by Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and Nabil Fekir on Monday.

Meanwhile, Mexico had possession of the ball most of the time but lacked attacking and drew goalless against Wales, in their penultimate friendly match before playing in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

At the Rose Bowl Stadium at Pasadena in USA on Monday, Mexico's team dominated the game but failed to score, in part as a result of the outstanding performance of Wales' goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey of Premier League team Crystal Palace, reports Efe.

In another match, Portugal gave away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Tunisia in a pre-World Cup friendly before the tournament in Russia.